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Joy Barnwell will be remembered for her outstanding contributions and significant role that she played in the African Canadian community in the Greater Toronto Area. Her untimely death on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023, was the first homicide in the City of Toronto. There has been media coverage of the phenomenal work that Joy did over the years since she emigrated to Canada 51 years from the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the southern Caribbean.
If you take some time to research Joy, you will find that in her lifetime she was tremendously accomplished. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at the University of Waterloo. She was the owner and operator of J & B Consulting from January 2002 to February 2003. Here she provided consulting services to federally and provincially regulated organizations on change management and implementation strategies to integrate Diversity and Employment Equity principles into human resource policies and practice.
She subsequently moved to TELUS Mobility as a consultant on Diversity & Employment Equity from March 2003 to December 2005. In this capacity, she: developed, implemented and integrated a comprehensive diversity strategy and collaborated with human resources partners. She then worked at RBC as an advisor on Employment Equity & Workplace Accommodation. In this capacity, she was involved in the implementation and integration of RBC’s Canadian EE/Diversity and Workplace Accommodation, and collaborated with: key decision makers, assess readiness and adopted measures/ initiatives that align with business priorities. Success was a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional concept for her. It involved: learning to navigate complex work environments, attracting and retaining highly motivated, passionate, results-driven, team-oriented individuals, while creating inclusive, and caring cultures that give each individual a sense of purpose and belonging. It was this inclusive understanding of success that she applied in her: pre -
sentations, workshops, and training to individuals and organizations across North America.
Joy built a solid reputation as a: transformation coach, speaker, and consultant on diversity and inclusion. Her mantra was, “Transforming yourself into Your Best Self.” As a dynamic speaker and thought leader, she utilized a variety of techniques in her delivery. Her utilization of intuitive intelligence and personal development enabled individuals and organizations to overcome limiting beliefs and heal from past trauma in order to achieve their aspirational goals. Joy has been involved in transformational coaching, educational programs on personal development, and social change, providing customized training to individuals as well as corporate organizations and government institutions.
Joy was a founding member of the Immigrant Women in Business (IWB) organization and represented St. Vincent in the Caribbean. Svetlana Ratnikova (Co-founder of IWB) describes the special person that Joy was. She states, “You know those people who, no matter what, you will call them and they’ll help; that is exactly the type of woman that Joy was. She helped with so many women who came to this country, because they needed to start a career, and she would help them attain a career in diversity and inclusion with the government, all in line with her work as a consultant for TELUS and for Royal Bank.”
Ratnikova recalled that Joy shared with her the challenges that she faced at home dealing with her son. Joy mentioned to her, “I mentor him; you know, I understand people. We are all going through challenges in our family. We have to be super patient and super compassionate and lead with love.”
Joy had a deep desire and passion to serve the underserved, particularly immigrant women because she was aware of the many: obstacles, barriers, and challenges they faced. Joy was supposed to be part of a youth empowerment initiative that was launched on Friday, January 27th, 2023, at Metro Hall in Toronto. A minute of silence was held in honour of the memories of Joy.
Ratnikova has fond recollections of Joy. She shares, “You know sometimes how people walk in a room, and they don’t need to say anything and you want to talk to them? So this is Joy. Joy is true joy.”
It is fitting that Joy will be the recipient of the Compassion Award from the IWB on March 8th, 2023, during an International Women’s Day Celebration in Toronto. The IWB’s website describes the purpose and passions of what Joy symbolizes. It states, “Joy’s vision is to move and change things ‘in a big way’ by: inspiring others to perform the extraordinary, creating shared visions and goals, fostering participation in decision-making processes, providing intellectual stimulation and engaging diverse communities and building partnerships to achieve social change.”
There has been a memorial website that has been set up for Joy Barnwell as of January 19th, 2023, on https:https://everloved.com. In lieu of flowers, individuals can donate funds towards Marion House, which offers general counselling sessions and tangible support of survivors of domestic violence. Some of the tributes posted on January 27th include:
Chantale Francis
“Forever giving, forever caring, and forever forgiving. Joy, you are remembered as a trailblazer for those who need a voice. Rest in peace dear friend.”
Peggy, JC, Tony, and Jessica Cerqueira
“We are deeply saddened by the news of Joy. She had so much determination,
“We are living in amazing times, when the manipulation of humanity through the ages, which has gone on in the peripheral vision, in the shadows, it’s now come into the public arena where we can see it, and now we can bloody deal with it, and we will!”
David Icke
I began to see memories come up on Facebook, and one that caught my attention was one of the many interviews that I have done with David Icke. Interestingly enough, not too long after that, I saw that Brian Rose (London Real), had just conducted an interview with him, so I was curious to see what news David had to share. As usual, David did not disappoint, sharing information on topics surrounding:
• Our world being part of a simulation
• Who created the simulation we are living in?
• We are all controlled by a secret society
• How they keep you in the simulation
• People are finally waking up
• The fact that this has become an anti-human agenda
David Icke is truly a fascinating man. To some, he is considered a conspiracy theorist, but the fact is that he has dedicated 30 years of his life to investigating, researching, questioning and documenting who, and what is really controlling what we see. His consistent messaging, incredibly accurate predictions and promotion of peace and unity continues to resonate with communities all over the world. Many of these people have grown tired of the government lies, cover-ups, censorship and manipulation that has become an increasing presence in our everyday lives.
In his latest book, “The Trap,” David digs a little deeper into the rabbit hole to explore and expose what he calls the anti-human agenda that is being orchestrated by a force beyond our reasonable perception, that has been manipulating and controlling world events in what he describes as a virtual reality computer game.
The topic that stuck out to me the most, and the one that I want to present to readers today is that self-identity is the way out of the trap. I have included some quotes from David Icke, and I am going to expand the quotes to give readers some context. Ready? Let’s begin…
“When you self-identify with la-
bels, you are limiting yourself. They do not want us to understand this. We have to remember that we are the creators of our existence, and not fall into ‘the trap’ of being sold to us who we are, that we are just the body.”
The tendency to label ourselves and others can blur the lines between truth and fiction. It has and can create tension between who you think you are supposed to be and who you actually are. If unchecked, it can lead to mental health issues that can compromise your quality of life and relationships with others.
Labels reflect how people think about others and themselves. They not only influence how a personal identity is created, but also allow for recognition that others have different qualities.
Labels can shape expectations that are set for other people, and these create stereotypes, something that is very divisive. These stereotypes can result in unrealistic expectations or expecting less from someone despite what they are capable of.
Research has shown labeling someone with a mental disorder can lead to a negative outcome, including feelings of rejection and discrimination. All of this can lead to the worsening of the mental disorder and the person’s overall mental health. One of the long-term effects of labeling is that the label becomes the source of identification. stigma associated with the label results in isolation/
rejection from society, lowered expectations, self-blame/guilt and emotional distress.
David speaks on this in detail in his book, and the need for us to see ourselves as more than the ‘label’ that has been given to us.
We are all infinite awareness having a brief human experience.”
David believes that we existed in spiritual form before we were born into this physical world. We are eternal souls. Our soul, that part of us that observes quietly behind what we: do, think, believe, and feel, existed before this human life and will continue to exist after our present physical life transitions.
For each of us, our soul is where: unconditional love, unending forgivingness, compassion, harmony, peace, and joy reside. Our Soul is a little piece of the divine, here to experience this life and its lessons. We are, indeed, spiritual beings having a human experience.
“Know who you are, and it is over. Know that there is nothing you cannot create, or manifest.”
For David Icke fans, you will really enjoy this interview with Brian Rose. I might just have to touch base with David and see if he is interested in speaking with the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper again.
It is time for a reboot!
“When you self-identify with labels, you are limiting yourself. They do not want us to understand this.”
serious safety and efficacy concerns it has not deterred the FDA from moving ahead to recommend more shots.
There is so much conflicting and contracting information in the public and private spheres that have bombarded the world with information about the COVID-19 vaccine. Many people are not sure whether they should take the COVID-19 vaccine, or obtain a booster shot that has been highly promoted by the media. To this end, the nonprofit organization, Children’s Health Defence has taken on the role of providing a clear and consistent message to the world. Its mission is to end childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible, accountable, and to establish safeguards to prevent future harm.
On Sunday, January 15th, 2023, the Children’s Health Defence released information regarding a future meeting of the U.S Department of Health and Services Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBFAC) on January 26th, 2023. The meeting is intended to discuss the future vaccination regimens addressing COVID-19. There are not many details presented regarding exactly what will be discussed at the meeting. The Children’s Health Defence demands that VRBPAC looks at the data regarding the failure of the COVID-19 vaccine program.
Only 16% of the population who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine booster shot over the age of five have received it. This translates to about 47 million Americans with a cost of around $5 billion. Despite this low uptake, combined with
The Children’s Health Defence team encouraged its listeners to submit a public comment to the FDA by January 18th, 2023, at the official website of the United States Government: https://www.regulations.gov/document. Any comments that the FDA received before January 18th, 2023, will be shared with VRBPAC. Those that are received after January 18th, 2023, and by January 25th, 2023, will be taken into consideration.
The Children’s Health Defence provided the following list of points to be used:
• Demand answers about the need for future COVID-19 vaccinations for all age groups when the median infection facility rate of COVID-19 was estimated to be 0.034% for people aged 0-59 years by February 2021
• Compel the justification for continuing the booster program for a vaccine that doesn’t prevent transmission or infection
• Share personal experience and concerns about the looming mandates that will be imposed once the vaccine is officially added to the childhood schedule
• Ask them to stop prioritizing Pharma profits over public health needs and to recognize that vaccine injury is real, not rare
• Tell them to explain the data regarding pregnant women and the high miscarriage rate (87.5 %) among women whose pregnancy outcomes were known
• Emphasize how egregious it is to authorize a completely experimental product that didn’t even undergo human trials for infants as young as six months old
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When Philton Moore a Black barrister of AfroCaribbean descent migrated to Canada he expected to continue in his profession uninterrupted. What he never expected was to be bypassed for employment in his field even though he was more qualified than many of the other applicants that got hired.
Let us have a look at Mr. Moore’s qualifications.
Moore had previously practiced as a lawyer for seven years in England, had been an associate University law lecturer in that country, and had re-qualified in Ontario (via Osgoode Hall Law School and the NCA), completing his legal apprenticeship with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and had also updated a section of the Encyclopedia
of Local Government Precedents and Procedures as a writer for the UK’s then largest legal publishers, Sweet and Maxwell.
I spoke at length with Barrister Moore on the details of: what happened, the steps he took to address it, and his views on how this behaviour affects Black professionals and Black Canadians as a whole.
This all started when Moore applied for a position at a law firm named Lou Ferro Barrister and Solicitor in Hamilton Ontario.
“Tell me what happened,” I asked Moore. “When I questioned the firm as to the reason I was not hired,” he said, “the respondent said they had concerns about my English language skills, and my ability to stand before a judge. This is the sort of indignity they subject our people to.”
Still, in doubt about the first interview, Moore requested a second interview only to be told this time by the wife of the principal of the law firm, “You are pushy, and I don’t like pushy people.”
Moore said it was clear that they were upset that he had the nerve to question their decision, “She did not want to reply to me via email because that kind of language would have incriminated the firm, so I was invited in person to be insulted.”
It is important to note here that this second interview took place six months after the first one. Moore later found out that he had outperformed all the other applicants, yet he could not secure the job, all this only came out after he sued the firm for discrimination and obtained all the legal documents.
Moore said he told the law firm that he would be traveling to the US just in case they needed him, however, after he reached the US, he suddenly got an email inviting him to a third interview at the firm the following morning.
A move Moore suspects was designed to get rid of him permanently as an applicant, knowing full well that he could not be back in that tight frame of time for this third interview.
He could not have been more right. The firm replied, thanking him for his time and letting him know that the position had been taken. All this took place over six months.
Meanwhile Moore said, “All the White candidates the firm hired were hired in a one-or two-week period after being interviewed.”
This was when Moore sent the firm an email to let them know that he believed
their actions towards him were discriminatory. This is when the principal of the law firm accused Moore of coming to his firm with an agenda.
Barrister Moore said the principal of the firm told him “If you persist, you will face unintended consequences.”
The tribunal found that Moore was discriminated against, but only on account of the abusive emails, which were sent by the principal of the law firm.
The decision not to hire Moore was overlooked. Moore took his case to a Divisional Court, which upheld the original decision, and he is now trying to get clearance to let the Supreme Court of Canada hear his case in that capacity.
Interestingly enough, the Law Society of Ontario produced a report, which showed that even White lawyers agree and know that Black lawyers are being discriminated against by law firms. For example, the LSO Report found that:
“Three-fifths (or 62%) of non-racialized lawyers agreed that Black lawyers face much more challenges to their entry into practice and advancement in the legal profession compared with their White colleagues.”
at an extremely frightening pace, and some of our most important retailers heading into bankruptcy, is it farfetched to say that if your neighbours house has exploded, that your home just might take a hit?
Is the pandemic over?
Are we in a recession?
According to Pierre Cléroux, Vice President at BDC, Canada is not in a recession. He reveals in his article “2023 Economic Outlook: Cause for Caution, not Alarm,” that despite the bleak outlook in recent months, a recession is still avoidable for the Canadian economy. Respectfully, I don’t know if I completely agree with Pierre, and not because I am any type of financial guru, but because of the turmoil that we are witnessing in so many different sectors of our global economy. What is even more worrisome is the fact that the economic chaos is happening right next door; with America’s housing market crashing, the cryptocurrency industry imploding, the tech industry laying off workers
It has become exceedingly clear that the global economy is in huge trouble, and I fully expect that our problems will accelerate even more as the year rolls along. Microsoft announced thousands of job cuts, becoming the latest tech company to pluck its workforce as the global economy slows. Microsoft reported the layoffs would affect roughly 5% of its workforce.
Even more alarming is the fact that a bankruptcy filing for Bed Bath & Beyond has become “likely. Bed Bath & Beyond has been in discussions with prospective buyers and lenders as it works to keep its business afloat during a likely bankruptcy filing.
The wave of layoffs that we have been witnessing in the tech industry is truly unprecedented. Prior to this week, more than 25,000 tech industry workers had already been laid off this year, and this comes on the heels of the massive layoffs in 2022.
Needless to say, this could potentially completely undermine the dominance of the petrodollar. Of course we cannot afford to have that happen, because the dominance of the dollar is one of the only things
keeps our systems afloat. As you can see just about everything is moving in the wrong direction for the U.S. economy, but according to Pierre, Canada’s economy has been resilient. Growth has been sustained by:
• A strong job market
• Household savings
• High commodity prices
• An increase in business investment
• The strong demand for services unleashed after Covid restrictions were lifted
Interestingly enough, it is your household spending that is driving growth in Canada. While consumption is usually responsible for about 60% growth, we estimate that it will account for around 80% of GDP growth in 2022. When we are dealing with any type of economic downturn, you usually tend to spend less and save more, especially if there is job uncertainty.
Higher interest rates have driven down the price of shares and houses, and that trend is expected to continue in 2023. Lower asset prices will negatively impact household spending, and the post-pandemic consumerspending boom will slow down. These are the reasons that we are seeing a slowdown in
spending.
Private sector forecasts in Canada assume there will be some kind of a recession in early 2023, but it will be short and mild. We can’t take for granted that it doesn’t take much to nudge a short and shallow recession into something much worse. In fact, researchers at Oxford Economics believe Canada has already slipped into a recession. “Canada has likely just entered a moderate recession that will last for much of 2023,” Tony Stillo, Oxford’s director of Canada economics, wrote in a note to clients. “Prevailing household debt and housing imbalances will mix with pandemic and geopolitical forces to make Canada’s recession deeper than most advanced economies.”
Seasoned forecasters have found this a tricky period to navigate, so what does that mean for us? The economy is awash in contradictions and the data are quite noisy. What we do know is that looking ahead, inflation will continue to dominate the economic story of 2023.
If we are not mindful, our entire system will crack and crumble, and the people who are currently running things are not going to be able to put it back together again. Let’s call it 2023, the year of the Humpty Dumpty Economy
Seasoned economic forecasters have found this to be a tricky period to navigate, 2023, the year of the Humpty Dumpty Economy
• Dr. Akwatu Khenti
• Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman
• Trevor Aldridge
• Dr. Upton Allen
• Dr. David Burt
• Celina Caesar-Chavannes
• Francis Jeffers
• Juannittah Kamera
• Dr. Na-Koshie Lamptey
• Dr. Onye Nnorom
• Dr. Kwame McKenzie
• Ashleigh Rae-Thomas
“When somebody is naturally immune, like they got covered, they probably have better, like not better, but more antibodies against the virus.
When you actually get the virus, you’re going to start producing antibodies against, like, multiple pieces of virusand not only just like the outside portion, like the inside portion, and the actual virus. So, your antibodies are probably better at that point than the vaccination.” Nick Karl (Scientist, Pfizer)
I’ve always been fascinated with the body’s incredible ability to heal and repair itself. When you cut yourself, for example, you get to witness the body’s healing process firsthand: the body clotting, the formation of a scab, then blood vessels bringing oxygen for healing, and finally the formation of new skin. It’s frankly amazing how the body can heal itself without any help from the outside.
What is important to know is that health is achieved when the body is able to protect itself against: imbalances, breakdowns, and foreign invaders. The human body has evolved powerful defense systems that help it maintain optimal physical, mental and emotional states.
I wanted to lead into this article with these facts, so that when I put an organization on blast, I am doing so fairly, transparently and honestly. If you can’t tell, this edition, I am calling out people who have bought into the COVID-19 rhetorica, and are now forcing their children, spouses, family members, friends and community to buy into the double-speak as well.
On Saturday, January 21st, 2023, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EST), Lord Fury, Knia Singh, and I decided to visit “Our Community’s Health Matters: A Black Health Fair and Wellness Summit.” It was being held by Black Scientists from the Task Force on Vaccine Equity.
The Black Scientists’ Task Force on Vaccine Equity was created in December 2020 as part of the TO Supports: Targeted Equity Action Plan, as a response to data that continued to show that the highest rates of COVID-19 cases and vaccine hesitancy are among Black people of African and Caribbean origins.
The Task Force was created in partnership with the TAIBU Community Health Centre, to address Black community concerns and issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, testing and vaccines. The Task Force has also collaborated closely with the Black Physicians Association of Ontario (BPAO) to develop the vaccine equity strategy.
The Task Force, which includes many of Canada’s top Black scientists involved in key aspects of vaccine development and Black public health, will review the major concerns and issues around COVID-19 testing and levels of vaccine acceptance, and develop public health recommendations to effectively address Black community concerns. The Black Scientists’ Task Force on Vaccine Equity members include:
• Dionne Sinclair
• Dr. Candice Todd
• Nicole Welch
Being part of the summit really cleared things up for me: the obvious gap between “what the CDC says” and “what we see, hear and read” has left space for our community to really think critically about what is happening around us, and to us. The summit was put together well: music, food, and a group of individuals working together to achieve their goal; it is not a goal that I agree with, but to each their own.
I have to say, I am disappointed with this task force group, and I am going to explain why. Throughout the summit, the push was to ensure that the community knew that vaccine security was our right, and that we need to make sure that every single person in the world knew about it. Oh, they did it up: panel after panel, lecture after lecture, the audience was bombarded with information concerning the vaccine, but it was a very one-sided discussion. When Knia Singh went up to ask a few questions, he was berated by members of the audience. They jeered him and told him to pass the mic over to someone else. Interestingly enough, all of his questions were valid, but when doctors were asked, they spoke around the question, not answering directly. Let’s take a look at some of these questions:
1. When the death rate for Covid cases is 1% is it justified to push an mRNA injection that does not stop contraction or transmission that has potentially serious side effects?
2. When the death rate in the country is 0.1% and approximately 80% of those people are over 80 years old with comorbidities why are we spending so many resources on this when our Black community has overwhelming issues such as gun violence and systemic racism that affect our health daily to a significant degree.
3. The disproportionate likelihood of dying based on race was existent long before COVID-19 why is the task force consistently using this a shield to justify promoting vaccination.?
4. Why is there an emphasis on vaccination when natural immunity lasts longer and adjusts to any variant that emerges compared to the limitation of the mRNA injections that have to be re-engineered over time?
5. Has anybody in Toronto between the ages of 0-12 died as a result of a COVID-19 infection?
6. What is the annual budget that the Black Health Task Force receives from the city of Toronto?
7. Why have our community leaders accepted positions that promote an injection that is early in its introductory stage and has not gone through extensive testing?
8. Do you support the continuing silencing of voices that present an alternate view to the measures necessary to
keep people safe during the Great Reset?
9. Why is there such an extreme effort to promote injections rather than a healthy lifestyle and reduction of stress to maintain optimal health and resistance to COVID-19 infections?
Knia was only able to get through with a few questions before he was verbally attacked, and it dawned on me; our community is so brainwashed, they actually believe what is being parroted to them.
So, of course, I had to do some research and I would like anyone who is reading this article right now to share it with the board members at the Black Task Force. In order for them to really speak for the people in the Black community, they must understand both sides of a story.
According to a Senior Associate Scientist at Pfizer, people who have already been infected are considerably better protected, and most likely for a longer period of time, since there was a natural reaction in the body. Do you hear this; natural reaction? This cannot happen if you are pumped full of vaccinations.
Another scientist at Pfizer on the other hand, voiced displeasure with how they are “bred and taught” to claim that the vaccination is safer than naturally enhanced antibodies from infection.
“Honestly, we have too; we have to do so many seminars on this, like you have no idea. Like we have to sit there for hours and hours and listen. You cannot talk about this. It’s not in public.’”
A Senior Associate Scientist also expressed his dissatisfaction with his job at Pfizer.
“I still feel like I work for an evil corporation,” he said, adding that they are attempting “to keep track” of everyone who has been vaccinated versus the real number of individuals reported.
“Basically, our organization is run on COVID money now,” he continued. “It netted like over 15 billion last year.
“The vaccine may not protect everyone.”
Pfizer, January 27, 2023
For various reasons, governments around the world panicked in February and March of 2020 and concluded that only a severe lockdown, and vaccinations could isolate the virus and stop it from spreading. They quickly became aware of the failure and cost of this action and were faced with a choice: they could admit their terrible mistake or double down, continue with the policy, and hope that people wouldn’t figure out that they had been tricked.
The rush to apply an untested, unrecommended, and obviously costly policy tool to entire populations was undoubtedly fueled by two factors. First, many mistakenly thought that COVID-19 could be eradicated if everyone took the vaccination. Second, groups of applied mathematicians immediately called for lockdowns, and pharmaceutical companies and their apocalyptic predictions heavily influenced policymakers. Taken together, these factors caused public health officials and politicians to panic.
Wouldn’t you know it; the immediate massive death toll did not happen; indeed, after five waves it still had not happened.
People came to believe in “the absurd goal of ‘zero-COVID,’” despite suffering from government lockdown policies, and seeing friends and family get sick after taking their vaccine. As such, a fearful segment of citizens “supported the policies
and actually helped enforce state regulations through social stigma and shaming of those who objected. This is exactly what happened to Knia on January 21st, 2023.
Within months of the initial panic several facts were clear: the models were wrong; COVID-19 could not be contained; the disease threatened only a particular segment of the population; those who died had four comorbidities on average. Also, this was the first time that lockdowns were enforced on healthy and non-symptomatic people.
Jordan Trishton Walker (Pfizer Director of Research and Development - Strategic Operations and mRNA Scientific Planning) was recently caught on tape making a statement that was very damning.
“Well, that is not what we say to the public, no. That’s why it was a thought that came up in a meeting and we were like: ‘Why do we not? It was like, we’re going to consider that with more discussions. Actually. We’re like: Wait a minute, people won’t like that.”
What won’t people like?
Pfizer ultimately is thinking about mutating COVID? That’s right, it appears that Pfizer is internally discussing the possibility of mutating the COVID virus themselves, in order to tailor a vaccine to sell to the public. Why would they do this? I am not going to insult the reader’s intelligence by explaining.
Pfizer and the Government of Canada have responded to the hesitancy by saying this:
“Following the availability and use of the updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines, CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a near real-time surveillance system, met the statistical criteria to prompt additional investigation into whether there was a safety concern for ischemic stroke in people ages 65 and older who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent.”
Safety concern you say? Let’s continue. Rapid-response investigation of the signal in the VSD raised a question of whether people 65 and older who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent were more likely to have an ischemic stroke in the 21 days following vaccination compared with days 22-42 following vaccination.
This preliminary signal has not been identified with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent. There also may be other confounding factors contributing to the signal identified in the VSD that merit further investigation. Furthermore, it is important to note that, to date, no other safety systems have shown a similar signal and multiple subsequent analyses have not validated this signal.”
Oh, so now there are other confounding factors, interesting.
The truth here matters. For one, if you are thinking that the boosters that are being offered are going to help keep you safe, it’s time to re-assess. Not everything that is parroted by the government is good for you, and when organizations like the Black Task Force enable the distribution of vaccines in our community, I wonder if they realize that this is all being recorded and documented. Do you really want to be known as an organization who is responsible for the ill health of your community?
Something to think about.
that we have right now is that since the beginning of 2022, we’ve had enough vaccines to provide whatever countries want. The challenge has been getting the demand,” said Seth F Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) returned to Davos for its first winter session in three years on January 16th, 2023. Record numbers of government officials and business leaders showed up at the elite annual affair. More than 600 CEOs were in Switzerland, including Wall Street executives such as: JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, David Solomon from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman.
With climate change top of the agenda, chiefs of major energy companies are back after a COVID-related hiatus, and the claim is that climate change is increasing malaria, and tuberculosis infections, the executive director of the world’s biggest health fund said in Davos on Monday.
“Huge surges in malaria infections followed recent floods in Pakistan and cyclones in Mozambique in 2021,” said Peter Sands, the Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
“Whenever you have an extreme weather event it’s fairly common to have a surge of malaria,” he said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos.
The panellists also warned that COVID-19 isn’t yet over and that we mustn’t get complacent. “The problem
“Part of it is the world says, ‘We’re done with COVID.’ Of course, the virus is not done with us, and what we really need to do is make sure that policy-makers understand that we’re continuing to see new variants and we’ve been lucky that we haven’t had one with very severe disease, or one that can escape existing immunity.
There’s no reason to think that may not happen. So, the best thing we can do is use prevention methods, but also make sure we vaccinate our high-risk populations so they’re protected against severe disease and death.”
We can say one thing, he is right; more and more people are starting to catch wind of the disastrous effects of the vaccine. It has nothing to do with complacency; people are noticing a trend of side effects, and deaths that are not sitting well for them, but I digress…
According to the WHO, in 2021 more than 10 million people fell ill from tuberculosis and 1.6 million people died.
I came across an article titled, “Tuberculosis in People with Compromised Immunity: A Review of Guidelines,” and I learned that Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is transmitted through the air by those who are infected with the bacteria (i.e., coughing).
Patients with compromised immunity have a higher risk of LTBI infection and developing active TB disease. For instance, people with HIV have a higher risk
of developing active TB disease compared to HIV-uninfected people due to their compromised immune system and the inability to adequately fight off infection.
You know who else could possibly fit in that category; individuals who have been vaccinated and boosted. Let’s take a look at what science has to say about this.
In an article titled, “Vaccination Alters the Balance between Protective Immunity, Exhaustion, Escape, and Death in Chronic Infections,” they found that vaccination expands the numbers of lymphocytes specific for a given pathogen. However, in some circumstances, increasing the number of antigen-specific lymphocytes may fail to provide protection and instead lead to an adverse outcome following exposure to the pathogen, something they like to call vaccine-induced pathology.
Another article titled, “Vaccination Alters the Balance between Protective Immunity, Exhaustion, Escape, and Death in Chronic Infections,” they speak to the fact that vaccine-associated enhanced disease (VAED) is a rarely-observed phenomenon whereby vaccination promotes immune responses that exacerbate the disease caused by subsequent infection with the associated pathogen (meaning that your body will actually still catch the disease, because your immune system is compromised). VAED has been observed in humans in three vaccine trials, for vaccines against: dengue virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and measles. Is it possible that the rise in tuberculosis has everything to do with the vaccine rollout? Timelines do seem to indicate this fact.
Regardless of the well document-
ed science, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Director General of the World Health Organization) announced the creation of the TB Vaccine Accelerator Council at a highlevel panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
During his opening remarks, he noted that one of the most important lessons from the COVID-19 response is that innovative health interventions can be delivered fast if they are prioritized politically and financed adequately. I want to make note here that no new TB vaccines have been licensed in a century, yet for some reason now, there is a push for them.
“The challenges presented by TB and COVID-19 are different, but the ingredients that accelerate science, research and innovation are the same: urgent, upfront public investment; support from philanthropy; and engagement of the private sector and communities,” said Tedros. “We believe the TB field will benefit from similar high-level coordination.”
WHO recently commissioned a study on investing in new TB vaccines, which estimates that over 25 years, a vaccine that is 50% effective in preventing disease among young people and adults could avert up to 76 million TB cases. Furthermore, every dollar invested in a 50% effective vaccine could generate an economic return of $7 in terms of averted health costs and increased productivity. Additionally, some 8.5 million lives could be saved, as well as $6.5 billion in costs faced by TB-affected households, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable. Hmmmmm! 50% effective; do we really want to take another gamble with our lives? I will let you think about that
There have been on-going concerns and questions regarding the backlogs that continue to persist in Canada’s healthcare system. Canada’s health-care system is under siege. The country is still grappling with an acute crisis in our hospitals stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic while the slowmoving quagmire caused by the country’s aging population threatens to become a larger disaster. So the question is, can our system handle it?
An Ontario 360 paper, which was
published in early 2022, informed us that there was an “invisible waitlist.” This list was comprised of people who had to forgo their appointments, or never showed up for them because they thought that the healthcare system could not cater to them during the pandemic. The paper notes, “This invisible waitlist could be a time bomb, as diagnosis happens later and preventive treatments go undelivered, creating serious health problems for Ontarians later in life.” The paper notes there are some serious long-term implications of this.
Furthermore, it was noted that Canadians are reading about the acute crises at hospitals and staffing shortages at medical facilities. Everything that isn’t urgent gets delayed and the system gets increasingly backed up. Some Ontarians have been in line for more than two years and, even now, have little prospect of seeing an operating room any time soon.
The Ontario government has responded to this backlog by investing almost a billion dollars. It anticipates that
it will be able to clear more than 200,000 surgeries and procedures in 2022-2023 by offering incentives to hospitals. There was widespread attention focused on the announcement that private clinics will be able to perform publicly covered surgeries, which is known as “private delivery.” It was in August 2022 that Doug Ford announced in the Ontario Legislature, “We can’t do the same status quo, the status quo has been broken. We’re going to deliver health care in a different fashion.”
The lack of qualified medical professionals such as doctors and nurses available to deliver Canada’s healthcare services have been a major concern even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that foreign-trained doctors have to pass seven different disciplinary exams prior to obtaining a residency position in order to qualify to work is a major obstacle. Many doctors from abroad often have to resort to driving taxis and doing menial jobs because of these seemingly insurmountable barriers they face. Furthermore, if one of the seven
exams failed, which cost $3,000 each, and then he or she is considered to fail the full examination and has to repay the same fee to write it again. This process could be repeated several times until the candidate after spending thousands of dollars and not passing the seven examinations eventually gives up.
One observer notes, “This is the organized cabal’s intentional way to prevent more doctors from qualifying to work in Canada and allow only their racial young to qualify to work in North America/Canada. Not much effort by the Government there.”
There is no easy way to solve the lack of healthcare professionals in Canada. The critics note, “There is no fast support for aspiring, foreign doctors to start working in Canada (Ontario). It’s not just racism but a wealthy business-oriented cabal’s spending here, and the government surely, cannot be so dumb about it.”
There has been a lot of attention over the past few months on the spate of violence that has occurred in Toronto schools in the Greater Toronto Area. This has prompted calls for responses from John Tory, the Mayor of Toronto and other concerned individuals.
There has been a call for more support staff by the Education Support Union.
Laura Walton, President of the Ontariodents who are in distress. Principals and superintendents will also go through the training so that they know how to respond to students who are in violent situations on school property.
Laura states, “We need to ensure that there’s more student support services. We need to ensure that there are more mental health services.”
There have been several violent incidents in Toronto schools within the last few months including shootings and stabbings in which at least one student was killed. Many of these young offenders are facing the possibility of jail time for their crimes. On Thursday, January 12th, 2023, there was a shooting at Toronto East York Alternative Secondary School in which a gun was discharged as a result of a fight in the school’s washroom with one of the school workers being hit by a stray bullet.
Laura expressed great concerns about the possibility that there will be more school violence within the next few months if there is no action done at the present time.
million. Further reasons for this decline may be the high cost of fibre (raw trees). What once was priced at $125.00 has doubled and tripled in cost.
The forests these raw materials are found in have become grounds of displaced uncertainty. Weather patterns and events have become more pronounced due to the effects of climate change. Labour hour losses in the harvesting of said product have increased to unrealistic levels making some harvesting unprofitable, so the industry claims.
When the pandemic began, essential industries such as the soft wood industry continued to produce their needed products. I am an estimator for a large manufacturer, purchasing many board feet of both soft and hardwood products. I was told the industry was becoming addicted to the high prices they could pass on to retailers and builders, that there was no real shortage of product, which could be found in large warehouses throughout the continent. These professionals announced that people wanting to start their home
She notes, “School boards are not equipped to do what we need to do. It’s going to require a full stakeholder conversation.” She expressed hope that there will be a meeting under the provincial working group on health and safety in which stakeholders such as: the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Education, school boards, teacher’s unions, and other education support unions.
Laura states further, “There is a multi-stakeholder group that has been in existence for almost 10 years that is sitting dormant right now, because the ministry doesn’t want to meet with bargaining going on. That group needs to be empowered to address these issues.”
Data obtained from the Toronto Police Services was presented at the TDSB’s planning and priorities committee meeting. It indicated that there were 622 youth between the ages of 12 and 29 who were victims of stabbings and 586 were implicated in stabbings between January 2021 and November 2022.The TDSB revealed that it is in the process of establishing a student en -
gagement and safety team at each school, as well as an audit team that will collaborate with schools to enforce safety policies and procedures.
Mayor John Tory mentioned that there would be an emphasis on expanded youth programming and mental-health initiatives to provide students with additional support. This decision was made after he consulted with: TDSB’s representatives, police and city staff to address the rising youth violence. Mayor Tory states, “We all agree that violence in schools is unacceptable and we must do everything we can to stop it.”
The increase in youth violence is not restricted to the GTA. There have been incidents in London, Ontario in which there was a stabbing of a girl at a high school, which led to one girl being arrested and another one ended up with real injuries. In addition, in December 2022 there was a stabbing at a high school in Oakville, which resulted in three teenage girls being charged with assault and another one running from the police.
renovations do not have to wait. The costs within the retail environment will remain high until these prices become the accepted price levels. Then prices will continue rising. An addict cannot maintain the level of a substance they use, with their bodies getting used to the high they receive, they need a greater high. The soft wood industry along with their retail partners are controlling and managing prices, but denying retailers products that already exist. This is called price fixing. You saw this done many times before with: bakery goods, electricity and even automobiles. Before the pandemic, a Dodge Van was priced at $25,000 - $35,000. Now they are priced at $50,000+ industry wide. Prices will rise with scarcity of product. A long time ago the soft wood industry made a 2”x4” plank costing retailers $10.00 each, which then received a 30-300%+ mark-up. Now it costs $30.00 - $45.00 each and rising. Retailers made a bundle, and the soft wood industry realized they too should increase prices, using the pandemic as an excuse to do so. Many industries have done
just that, increasing prices while using supply chain problems and inflation as excuses. Do you enjoy eating avocados? Well, there is a glut within that sector; where over production with limited markets (EU stopped importing) drove prices for avocados down. A bag of six sold for as little as $1.99 in Ontario. After one month that same bag’s costs have increased 3-4 times and more. The economic reasons for cheap avocados had not changed. Therefore retail greed-inflation is the reason prices have increased.
There are real reasons for prices to increase drastically at times as mentioned, but retailers are presently targeting both businesses and individuals, hoping to reap the rewards of their price and sales increases, knowing their business model will have to change once they have entered the upcoming recession many fear is coming. The recession these retailers have helped to instigate. Remember, if families have limited funds, ultimately they will limit or stop buying what they do not need.
paul@carib101.com
On Sunday, January 22nd, 2023, the Secretariat of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate sent a letter to editors of newspapers regarding its concerns about the draft law of ectogenesis. Ectogenesis involves the embryo development in an artificial environment outside the mother’s body. These concerns were raised regarding what is being considered in Verkhovna Rada located in Ukraine where the production of motherless artificial babies is being considered.
The application of ectogenesis technology, where an artificial womb is used to produce human beings, removes the role of the mother in the essence of this process. The letter states, “This technology
overrides the natural law of transmission of human life given by the Creator Himself. The legal, ethical, and moral principles prevent the full development of the criminal production of children.”
For the Catholic Church, catechisms are very important as they are the official teachings that are accepted by the church as being in alignment with Scriptures, traditions, and reason. According to Catechism (CCC) Art, 2274: “The embryo must be treated from conception as a person.” Furthermore, Catechism Art.2275 states, “Certain attempts to influence chromosome or genetic inheritance…. are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity which are unique and unrepeatable.”
The letter asserts that there is, “No legislative claim to human rights for a human product that results from these social experiments.” Furthermore, it is a “Misuse of science.” It is only proposed by the “Powerful of this world,” who have made this an integral part of what is described as the golden billion evil agenda. The article summarizes this agenda as one that, “Breaks all moral and ethical barriers and involves leg-
islation for their genocidal goal.”
The article goes on further to describe how the artificial womb legislation could open Pandora’s box in terms of a scenario in which the worst crimes against humanity are possible. There are historical precedents as can be seen when the Nazis conducted human experimentation w revealed during the Nuremberg Trial after World War 11. The article notes that, “Modern science in the hands of inhumane people without conscience is being used to destroy the planet’s population.”
The authors of the article are particularly concerned that ectogenesis is being touted as a solution to the demographic crisis of modern civilization. There is an important question that is posed, “To what purpose should the products of so-called ectogenesis be used?” The authors revealed that human beings have a: material, mental and spiritual side that, “Ectogeneic interventions are a clear rebellion against God the Creator.” Another question that is posed is, “What impact can ectogenic unnatural manipulation have on a person’s spiritual world?” The authors assert that this could lead to infiltration by demonic
spirits which would corrupt human nature greatly.
The authors note that by Ukraine introducing this draft law on ectogenesis will inevitably slide toward auto-genocide. There are changes to the Family Code of Ukraine and its civil code with the addition of Part 8 such that, “Embryo development and gestation of human foetuses using the method of ectogenesis (an artificial environment outside the human body) is permitted according to the provisions of the central executive body, which ensures the creation of state policy in the field of health care.”
Information revealed that the law has been enacted into force since it was publicized. Within six months there will be enforcement of the normative-legal actions into compliance. It was on December 26, 2022 that the Bill was presented by A. Danutsa, MP of Ukraine, and later accepted by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine R.Stefaanchuk.
The world cannot ignore these legitimate concerns.
“Violence in schools is unacceptable and we must do everything we can to stop it!”
the reason prices have
PAUL JUNOR
It’s no secret; just take a look around. Think about the discussions you have had with people, the stories that you have been hearing. The past few years have had a devastating effect on people’s mental health. But what Canada is facing today is an unprecedented mental health crisis that is affecting large swathes of our population, including our children.
One of the main causes of mental distress in children and teenagers is their prolonged exposure to social media. Many people in today’s world live with their smartphones as virtual companions. At its core, social media is a powerful communication tool that has changed how individuals interact with one another. It speeds up how people exchange and share information, thoughts, and ideas across different
networks. Research continues to show that social media does have downsides. Some evidence suggests that its use — in particular, its overuse — can negatively affect mental health in numerous ways. The problem is reaching such alarming proportions.
Ironically, given the very name of it, spending excessive time on social media can actually lead to isolation and loneliness. The latest research also shows it can exacerbate existing mental health problems like depression and anxiety. Young adults are especially susceptible to these negative effects. A 2019 study found that young people who consume social media for more than three hours have higher risk of mental health problems. Devastatingly, a 2015 Common Sense survey found that teenagers may spend as much as nine hours each day online.
With all that said, there’s no wonder why this epidemic is only getting worse year after year. Canadians of all ages have been coping with increased pressure and a faster way of living. For many, the pandemic was the trigger. Others have seen their finances being turned upside down by recent stock market volatility. Millions have lost their jobs, and current economic problems have only added to the pressure. Meanwhile, our young people have been
mentally struggling at rates we have never seen before, and social media is a big contributor to that.
The fact that medical assistance is inaccessible for millions of people that truly need it only aggravates people’s personal mental health issues and makes illnesses persist for longer than they would if patients were getting proper treatment.
An Angus Reid report (September 2022) showed Canadians say they have less confidence and more difficulty accessing health care than Americans. Two-in-five Canadians (41%) – approximately 12.8 million adults – say they either had a difficult time accessing or were totally unable to access one of five key health services: non-emergency care, emergency care, surgery, diagnostic testing, and specialist appointments.
Americans are much less likely to say they encountered barriers to accessing those services, despite near-identical levels of the population seeking this type of care – 70% in the United States and 74% in Canada.
Experts say mental health-care systems have been struggling with a jump in demand since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Many Canadians looking for mental health services today are faced with long wait times and a limited number of afford-
able options, they say, both of which can act as barriers to access.
According to data collected by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Canadians are waiting weeks in order to access on-going mental health counselling in their community. Based on data collected from April 1st, 2020, to March 31st, 2021, about half of Canadians waited 22 days on average, for their first scheduled mental health counselling session. About 10% of Canadians waited nearly four months.
Hopelessness and despair continue to sweep through our society, but healing is still possible. If you’re struggling and feeling overwhelmed by painful and unbearable thoughts, know you don’t have to manage them alone. Human connection is known to reduce: anxiety, stress, and depression. Socializing helps us learn to navigate and cope with life’s challenges, can boost selfesteem, and can help us avoid loneliness while increasing joy and happiness. There are online therapy options. If you visit Psychology Today, and type in, “Black Therapists in Ontario,” you will find a group of trained counsellors that can help you get through this. Even when times are tough, there’s still hope, and together, we are stronger indeed.
There has been work done over the past two years by the Peel District School Board (PDSB) as it undergoes major changes to its: practices, programs, and policies. It has systematically put structures in place to ensure that the19 Ministry directives are implemented under the board-appointed supervisor Rodrigues whose terms come to an end soon.
One of the most positive developments was the launch of the We Rise Together 2.0 Black Student Success Strategy (BSSS) at the Peel District School Board Head Office. It was on June 22nd, 2022, that the BSSS was submitted at the PDSB’s Board meeting. Yonnette E. Dey, System Superintendent of
Equity, Community Leadership, Partnership and Engagement, and Dr.Camille Logan, Associate Director, School Improvement & Equity, Curriculum & Instruction, Student & Community Engagement prepared it.
Details of the BSSS can be seen on the: African, Black, African Canadian Committee Update # 3 at the PDSB’s website: www.peeldsb.com. On January 26th, 2022, the information was presented to the PDSB regarding the progress of the BSSS. The Black Community Alliance led to the formation of a working group that tackled diverse aspects, issues, concerns and challenges that arose. It was able to inform changes throughout all aspects the organization. An integral part of the formulation of the BSSS was community consultation, which guided the developmental process, as well as the Turner Consulting Group, a third-party consultant which was involved in its final development.
The systematic process involved in the development of the BSSS includes:
• Integrating the experiences of Black Canadians into the curriculum
• Fostering anti-racist learning and work-
ing environments
• Continuing engagement with the Black community
• Inspiring and supporting Black students’ success
• Hiring and supporting more Black staff
There are four specific actionable things that will be part of the next step which are:
1. Development of an implementation plan
The BSSS is a five-year strategic plan from 2022-2027. This will be developed to specify the work that will be undertaken during the 2022-2023 school year.
2. Communication plan
A plan will be developed to communicate the strategy through the broader PDSB school community and also within the Board.
3. Accountability framework
Use of Student Census data to analyze and monitor Black student achievement and wellbeing by PDSB Administrative and Senior staff
4. Centre of Black excellence
Coordinated effort by corporate staff and academic staff will establish a Centre of Black Excellence with input from the Black Community Alliance members.
Two important aspects of the BSSS are: Impact Analysis and Community Impact. The Impact Analysis was done through an Equity and Human Rights lens to ensure that: there are specific expectations established for all staff, explicit implementation of strategic support and approaches tailored to improve the outcomes of Black students and to improve access to safe and culturally relevant, meaningful and responsive learning environment, and the equitable application of human rights code that involves: anti-colonial, anti-racism and anti-oppressive practices.
Community impact is highlighted as a basis to build trust in the process of system transformation that is community-referenced and co-developed with community and student voice. There will be continual interaction with the Black community to ensure engagement is optimized.
Why are Canadians facing tremendous difficulties accessing mental health healthcare when we need it most?
Black Student Success Strategy: explicit implementation of strategic support and approaches tailored to improve the outcomes of Black students
As I made the trek down to Pickering, I couldn’t help but be excited. I was going to the United Boxing Promotions first event of the year, and they started this year out special with a sold-out, jaw-dropping, can’t take your eyes away for a minute round of fights.
The promotion team at United Boxing Promotions decided to take it there this year by hosting their first series of fights at the Pickering Casino Resort. Located just east of downtown Toronto, the new entertainment and hospitality destination stretches over 96,000 square feet of land, and it features casino gambling, Great Canadian Sportsbook, some exquisite dining amenities, an event center, and more.
The hotel is just a short drive from downtown Toronto, and it was an ideal destination for this boxing card, and the city of Toronto was out. The 2,500-seat arena was filled to the brim with enthusiastic boxing fans, all there to cheer on their local hometown fighters.
I quickly found my seat, which
happened to be beside the former Middleweight Jamaican Champion Kemahl Russell, who took some time to educate me on what to look for when watching the match. As one of Jamaica’s hardest hitting, and dangerously impressive boxers, Kemahl really knew his stuff. An all-action fighter, he is definitely one to watch in 2023. United Boxing Promotions is looking to make him a household name in Canada, and the world, and from what I have seen so far, this is going to happen sooner than later.
My takeaway from our discussion was to understand what a fighter brings to the table.
“Simone, there are three ways that a fighter can win a fight: they either have power, volume or both!”
“Explain what you mean by volume Kemahl,” I inquired.
“Power describes those fighters that hit heavy and hard. If you get caught by one of those punches, you are out. Some examples of fighters with power are: James Toney, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Julian Jackson.
Volume is when a fighter is relentless with his punches, you know fighters like Hector Camacho, and Prince Naseem Hamed. When you think about a fighter who has both, you can talk about one of Jamaica’s greatest fighters Mike McCallum.”
With that in mind, I was able to analyze the style of some of the fighters. It really started to make sense to me.
The bouts between super lightweights Mark Smithers of Barrie (9-0) against Jorge Amaya Diaz of Mexico (7-4), was when I first saw an example of volume. I saw that Smithers had respect for Diaz’s power and fought cautiously through much of the match as the Mexican fighter was swinging for the fences. Smithers was the aggressor for most of the match and strung together some hard combinations in the fifth and had Diaz in trouble in the eighth.
Canadian Super Lightweight Champion Mark Smithers of Barrie improved his unbeaten record to 10-0 with a hard-fought unanimous decision over a very willing Jorge Amaya Diaz of Mexico (now 7-5).
I have to give it to Diaz; he stayed in the fight and counter-punched effectively and while Smither was the clear choice for the win, the scorecard showing the local boy winning all eight rounds showed some bias.
You cannot deny that the next match was all about POWER. Six-foot-seven former Jamaican Olympic heavyweight Ricardo Brown dispatched Cruz Duran in just 56 seconds to improve to 6-0. To be honest, there is not much else to say about that; it just seemed all too easy.
I was a little disappointed at the loss of Richard Holmes of Jamaica (19-12) to Ajacian Brandon ‘Bad Boy’ Cook (23-2). Brandon ‘Bad Boy’ Cook, another fan favorite from nearby Ajax, won his fight in more dramatic fashion, stopping Richard
Holmes of Jamaica (now 19-13) in the sixth of a scheduled 10-round middleweight fight.
The knockout was the fourth time Holmes went down and was given an extended break at the end of the fourth after Cook started pressuring Holmes with a series of punches to the head and body, and came in too low, sending Holmes to the canvas in obvious discomfort.
After the restart Cook continued to stalk Holmes and eventually finished him with a combination that forced the ref to put an end to the proceedings at 2:04 of the sixth.
The championship match brought fans to their feet. Singh, the Canadian Middleweight Champion, dropped his opponent Lonescu with a straight right to the body in the first for an eight-count, but bobbed and weaved looking for a KO for most of the next seven rounds while Lonescu – a dangerous fighter gathered confidence and counterpunched effectively.
The audience grew restless, catcalling, and jeering Lonescu, and Singh continued to press and landed some hard shots that hurt Lonescu in the ninth and tenth rounds. Singh won by unanimous decision to push his record to 14-0.
What a night, and don’t you worry boxing fans; the next United Boxing card will be held at the Brampton arena February 25th with unbeaten fighters Josh Wagner (Orangeville) and Joshua Frazer (Brampton) as co-headliners.
cleaner on the COVID-19 virus in an indoor air setting.
The joint study seeks to answer the question, “Can airborne viruses be eliminated from indoor air?” The special air filter, QleanAir FS 30 was designed as a result of a partnership with Karolinska University Hospital at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is equipped with an EPA 11 filter and delivers up to 80/1 000 m3/h air at sound levels from 19-45 dB(A).
There have been concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic about the removal of the COVID-19 virus from indoor air within classrooms, workplaces and varied settings.
On Thursday, January 19th, 2022, there was a press release issued by Qlean Air Japan that indicated that there is a technology that involves a QleanAir FS 300 that can remove over 95% of airborne virus particles in only 10 minutes. The findings were obtained as a result of collaboration between Sendai Medical Center and QleanAir Japan. The purpose of the study was to measure the impact of a specific air
The following are details of the study:
• It was conducted by Sendai Medical Center and QleanAir Japan
• The aim was to measure the impact an air cleaner can have on reducing the particle content of airborne viruses in a chamber of 25 meter cubed
• The study was conducted in a safe test environment where the indoor air was contaminated with active influenza virus, roughly the same particle as SARS-CoV-2
• Air quality was measured over time, both with and without the aid of a
QleanAir air cleaner
• The air cleaner used in this study was the QleanAir FS 30
The summary of the results of the study that was issued in the press release are:
• It took only 10 minutes to remove over 95% of virus particles from the air
• In comparison, the particle reduction without an air cleaner was only 16.9%
• After 20 minutes approximately 99.9 % was eliminated and after 30 minutes over 99.99 %
• The study also compared the effectiveness of QleanAir FS 30 equipped with both HEPA 14 and EPA 11 filters
• Both filter combinations cleared the air in the room effectively
• The unit equipped with the EPA 11 filter reached a particle reduction of 99.9 % and 99.99 5 slightly faster due to its higher air flow
Glen Shimizu, Head of Sales Japan & MD QleanAir Scandinavia K.K states in the press release, “The study shows what dif
ference an air cleaner equipped with a high-performance, certified mechanical filter can have on air quality. We also found that the QleanAir FS 30 equipped with an EPA 11 filter performed slightly better than the HEPA 14, but that the performance of the air cleaner is decisive to indoor air quality.”
Sebastian Lindstrom, CEO of QleanAir observes, “At QleanAir we are proud to be able to provide effective air cleaners that can effectively reduce virus particles in a room, as well as being one of the first to meet the new VDI guidelines. The study results not only support the importance of choosing the right technology and filter, but also proves that our air cleaners reduce infectious aerosols both quickly and quietly.”
Anyone interested in the scientific reference can check Hidekazu, NISHIMURA,Seiji OHNO: Comparison of airborne virus reduction efficiencies between air purifiers with HEPA and EPA filters.
SIMONE
What is happening in our world right now should scare you.
Conservatives are fighting with conservatives, liberals are fighting with liberals, Christians are fighting with Christians, and we’re also seeing families break up all over the place.
We are witnessing the icing of hearts, conflict and discord leaving us wondering about what things will be like when economic conditions in this nation really
start falling apart in the months ahead.
Given that we have become disturbingly disconnected from each other, we tend to focus on what’s happening with our special people; you know friends and family, and then we forget the narratives others are living. When we take a step back and take a deeper look at our current situation, the extent to which our society has already deteriorated is quite shocking.
It doesn’t help that our leader has been at the helm of the division in our country: Justin Trudeau complains about polarization and anger in Canada, purposely distracting us from the fact that he is one who has created this polarization and anger. His rhetoric has become the breeding ground for an environment of anger, chaos, and division.
In March 2022, Angus Reid Institute in partnership with CBC, found that 48% of Canadians say Trudeau had done a “good” or “very good” job during the pandemic so far.
Another 48% said Trudeau had done a “bad” or “very bad” job.
Among those who said Trudeau has performed poorly, 31% said he’s handled the pandemic very badly — twice the number of respondents who said he’s done a very good job.
Four per cent of respondents said they didn’t or couldn’t say how well Trudeau has performed.
Although we like to see Canada as being open to diversity, and allowing people to have their own: thoughts, opinions and beliefs recognition must be given to the fact that our society may not be living up to these ideals: in fact, it appears that there is an even greater divide on beliefs throughout the community then we once thought.
In some places, this disharmony has risen to the level that people think their fellow citizens no longer disagree simply over policies, but also over basic facts, and this is something that is being recorded world-
wide. In: France, the U.S., Italy, Spain and Belgium, half or more think that most people in their country disagree on basic facts more than they agree. Across most societies, those who see conflict among partisans are more likely to say people disagree on the basic facts than those who do not see such conflicts.
The quarantine has caused some serious social consequences, physical distancing may be a natural reaction to infectious disease, but it can unfortunately give rise to some of the ugliest human tendencies: partisanship, prejudice, and xenophobia, actions that we are witnessing more often than not.
We choose to treat others in such an unkind and disrespectful way. It’s true we all have opinions. We all believe we are doing what is right. We all ultimately want what’s best for ourselves, and our loved ones.
STEVEN
steven@carib101.com TC REPORTER
showed the nation that among our population there are people who cannot think for themselves in an appropri
snow continued piling up and many of these people got stuck, and some froze to death. Foolish people taking a chance and suffering because of the decisions they made.
Are our brains shrinking? Has a new evolutionary cycle begun, where the IQ of many of our neighbours have stopped growing, but been declining over time?
Evan Horowitz, Director of Communications at FCLT Global People thinks people are getting dumber, not just nationally, but on a global scale. A decade of research throughout the world has shown that individual IQ scores, which predict educational achievement and intelligence longevity, are linked to a nation’s economic growth and scientific innovation.
There is a wholesale decline of IQ’s internationally, driven downward because of many things such as: the effects of the food we consume, the education we are prepared to pursue, environmental and social elements that we find ourselves within, media’s effect upon us, the very water we need to survive.
The more we watch the Kardashians, the greater the dumbing down of our society continues. When we are consumed by: the entertainment we watch, the things we must have, the perpetual laziness found within many of our lives, we are unable to achieve at the level that we should be.
You are what you: eat, consume, watch, and hope for. Most Americans use
only 9% of their brain capabilities, and within the global sphere many of our global neighbours use even less brain power. This brain drain ultimately leads to fewer scientific breakthroughs, stagnant economies, and general dimming of our collective futures.
If keeping up with the Jones is the only challenge you abide by, no wonder we are globally screwed. Our short-term memories are challenged each day, but it does not expand, while our dependence upon AI and electronics continue to grow.
Rising IQ scores are clear evidence of social progress, and proof of humanity getting definitively smarter. With a declining global IQ score comes further dependence upon our electronic tools, and our dependence upon others to care for our needs.
Here is what we may need to do:
• Stop the production of plastics, or at least develop systems that recycle and reuse all plastics. Plastic degrades, and as it does it will release enzyme’s dangerous to our nervous systems. The very water we consume has these dangerous enzymes, enzymes that our filtration systems cannot protect us from.
• Education must become a legally required process throughout our lives, where citizens must legally be educated. An educated person is a useful person.
• As long as people eat the minimum or less than the minimum, as long as they consume useless foods IQ’s will decline.
Fresh, nourishing food, with vitamins and minerals that grow your health must become available to all.
• The capitalist system must be challenged. Capitalism views the population in terms such as the wolves (who have) and the sheep (have not). As long as our society is based upon division socially, economically and culturally, society will stagnate, less evolving, more dependent upon things, less so on others. When our very own DNA is going to be the next great privacy issue, we must realize only through education and intelligent planning can we keep what makes us who we are our own property.
• Less challenges to one’s mind, leaves a person in a situation where laziness and apathy rule their day. The rise of lower skilled jobs produces a situation where individuals lack passion for what they do, lacking reasons to do better while receiving less money for their work.
There is a real bleak scenario appearing before us all. As this global intelligence crisis continues, humanity’s problem-solving abilities also decline, placing the globe in a situation of global brain drain syndrome. Your child’s IQ is a global concern. That child could be a: philosopher, scientist, technician or achiever never before seen, a person that could save us all. Quite a challenge, eh? A responsibility that we all must take on if our species is to not only survive, but globally excel within this universe.
Quebecois led by Y. Blanchet (12), the Conservatives with Pierre Poilievre’s grassroots montage (117), and a miniscule Green Party
(2) calling Elizabeth May back to leadership. The opposition have said, “The enemy is not necessarily doing everything wrong. You may and should take their right tactics and use them to your advantage.” Grass Root Organizations - allied to the above-mentioned opposition parties - have been out front, face to face with Liberal Leadership, protesting the government’s policies and attempting to garnish media attention to their political allies.
Will a national election be declared next year? Perhaps. The pandemic is still with us, while the economy slowly grows. national, provincial, business and personal debt is extremely high, with bond and lending markets keeping a careful eye on Canadians and their establishments both political and financial. The Liberal Party maintains its
promises to crunch climate talks internationally, while pulling needed revenue from its various marketplaces using green taxes and regulations unpopular throughout Canada.
Many of Canada’s political parties continue to evolve within this pandemic, politically charged legislator. Talking from both sides of their mouths, proclaiming the pandemic lies in the past and we must continue on, and issuing warnings of possible future virus infections with mini-pandemic follow ups to come. How will Canadians get out of the mess they are unwittingly in?
• The economy is so very slow, almost stagnating, or so the media wants you to believe.
• The pandemic will end eventually. When, who knows.
• Can the Conservatives persuade the NDP to drop their support for the Liberals? What would Jagmeet Singh get in
return?
• Will the next election sweep the Greens and Bloc off the legislative board?
• Does anyone know how to jump-start our economy? All efforts so far have not been successful.
• Are Canadians prepared to pay excessive taxes in the near future? Someone has to pay.
• Is Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives a political solution to Canada’s woes, or another Trumpite want-to-be?
The most important question of all raises its unwelcome presence. Will Canada and the USA and ultimately North America face an oncoming recession? There are those who believe that the constant chatter about a recession may very well bring it upon us all. Therefore, we should speak no evil, see no evil, and hear no evil.
by an Indigenous nation or acquired by the Crown.” This simply means, “The Algonquin Anishinaabeg remain stewards of the land.”
It should be noted that the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court in the land, has not agreed to this claim and challenged it.
paul@carib101.com TC
There has been focus on Indigenous claims to lands that First Nation people have occupied on Turtle Land long before: colonization, imperialism, and settler colonialism. Canadians and education stakeholders are not aware that properties that the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) occupies are on un-ceded and un-surrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation.
OCDSB issued a statement that provides clarification; “Canada’s Constitution, un-ceded territory means the Aboriginal Title to the area has not been surrendered
The OCDSB posted on its website: https://www.ocdsb.ca/cms/one.aspx information regarding,” Treaties Recognition Week” on February 10th, 2022, which provides an opportunity for everyone in Ontario to learn more about and recognize the importance of treaty rights and relationships. Information was revealed that in Ontario there are currently 46 treaties in place and they are legally binding agreements that set out the: rights, responsibilities, and relationships of First Nations and the federal and provincial governments. It notes further that understanding the importance of treaties is essential to reminding all Canadians that we are all treaty people. “Furthermore, as living documents we should be aware of them and ensure that they are upheld.
The fact that OCDSB’s schools and administrative buildings are on un-ceded and un-surrendered territory means in the Ottawa area where we live and attend school, the Crown does not hold title to the land and there is no cession treaty. It is important to highlight this information because the federal government is currently in the process of ensuring that Indigenous rights are acknowledged as are supported by the United Nations. In a mandate letter to Jean-Yves Duclos, Health Minister of Canada from Justin Trudeau states, “I am directing every MInister to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to advance.” There is information presented from the Prime Minister’s office, which aims to ensure that the UN’s principles are adopted and there is open transparency. It notes further, “The UNI document essentially pushes to have Indigenous lands and rights restored to their owners. White people are colonizers.” There is a question posed, “So, will Canadians
What is one of the most common health problems that develop in people as they age, and also one of the least discussed? The answer is chronic swelling of the legs. At best, it’s a natural consequence of aging, but also known as peripheral edema, there can be: medical, nutritional, or lifestyle causes and serious health consequences.
Edema is a general term meaning swelling. Peripheral edema occurs in the: legs, ankles, feet, as well as arms and hands. Swelling in other parts of the body include:
pulmonary edema (in the lungs), cerebral edema (in the brain), and macular edema (in the eye). It’s a medical emergency when the lungs or brain are affected, and a life-altering condition when vision is impacted.
In the legs, while victims must deal with pain, weakness, and limitations on mobility, for many, there is a sense of stigma, when once shapely or muscular legs have become less sightly. That’s at least one reason why there’s not a lot of information about how many people are suffering from the condition. In the minds of sufferers, it doesn’t warrant a visit to the doctor, and clothes can help conceal the issue, if not make it go away.
One research team at the University of Rochester used data from the American Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of about 20,000 U.S. adults over the age of 51, to estimate prevalence of the condition, which they found to be 19-20% of survey respondents.
They also found social disparities among those reporting lower limb edema.
Blacks/African Americans and other racial minorities, women, and less wealthy individuals were more affected. As is the case with many other health conditions, the researchers reported, “Minority racial status and lower wealth could be associated with peripheral edema for multiple reasons, including higher rates of other chronic health conditions as well as lower access to healthy foods and preventive care services.” What is causing edema is not always easy to determine. For the individuals involved, it can be hard to know if the swelling is the result of fluid gathering in the tissue. Or is it from the build-up of fat? Known as Lipedema, it is fat, not fluid, that occurs in the limbs, and in the early stage, people do not typically have: diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure, but peripheral edema is an accumulation of fluid.
Causes of fluid build-up can be long periods of sitting or standing. Pregnant women can develop the condition, as can people with low levels of protein in the diet.
be forced to pay more taxes, lose their land rights and freedoms?” The answer to this depends on several factors.
There is a realization in Canada that while losing one’s property may be painful, it will require an enormous financial contribution to ensure that there is equitable compensation. In fact, the federal government has agreed to pay $2.8 billion in settlement to residential communities as announced last week. There were expectations that the federal government would provide $40 billion in compensation. A further question posed is, “How much will this cultural genocide and land dispossession cost Canadian taxpayers today and to future generations who are guilty of a crime before they are born?” There is no clear answer to this question. The article notes, ”Nobody really knows least of all those attending and teaching at the OCDSB. We can’t expect the legacy media, hacked by the Trudeau government, to objectively cover this issue. Will Canadians push back?”
More sinister causes are also common, including chronic lung diseases or congestive heart failure, when the heart muscle doesn’t pump well. Chronic venous insufficiency occurs when leg veins fail to carry blood back up to the heart. When valves that normally ensure blood flows toward the heart don’t work well, gravity takes over, causing blood to pool in the legs. Depending on the cause, the treatment should be tailored. This is not the time for armchair medicine. An accurate diagnosis depends on a full medical history and potentially a battery of tests to pinpoint the issue. Keep in mind; it’s better to treat the underlying cause than the symptom. Raising the affected limbs will help. Diuretics can also help but need to be used with care as removing too much fluid too quickly can, among other things, impair kidney function. Attention to diet, consistent moderate exercise, and maintenance of a healthy weight should be the goal – early in life, and all lifelong.
2022, they will be required to submit annual Board Improvement and Equity Plans (BIEPs), which contain relevant data. These include; demographic and outcomes data as well as equity-focused action plans. The onus was on boards to collate these student demographic data to accompany the BIEPs no later than September 2022. The article notes that BIEPs cannot be found on the Ontario’s Ministry of Education’s website and boards have until January 2023 to submit the race-based data.
tems, and processes and compares outcomes of different groups. Furthermore, the report states that this evidence is critical in the process of advocating for marginalized and underserved groups, in addition to guiding improvement plans towards more equitable systems.
The are three recommendations that People for Education came up with such as:
• Name the problem
On Monday, January 16th, 2023, People for Education released its latest report titled, “A progress report on anti-racism policy across Canada.” The report is based on a pan-Canadian scan of anti-racism policy and legislation. Relevant statistics were obtained from the 2021-22 Annual Ontario School Survey and the websites of Ontario’s 72 publicly funded school boards were scanned to obtain the findings. It summarizes the findings of the report in an article titled, “Inconsistent and under-resourced - the state of anti-racism strategies across Canada,” which revealed that there are gaps in implementation, particularly in Ontario schools.”
The article mentioned that it was in September 2021 that Ontario’s Deputy Minister presented to school boards that as of May
The People of Education’s report mentioned some interesting facts such as:
• 64% of Ontario schools reported that their school boards collected race-based data and/or demographic student data, 29% were unsure and 7% did not collect race-based data
• 74% of school board websites mentioned racism in their equity and inclusion policies, 40% of publicly funded schools had anti-racism statement on their website, and 28% had an anti-racism strategy or approach available online
The report emphasizes the importance of collecting identity-based data. It notes that it yields valuable insights about how different groups experience the same: institutions, sys-
• Data collection is a good start but it’s only the start
• More involvement, especially from individuals and groups historically impacted by discrimination
On Tuesday, January 17th, 2023, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) issued a press release in response to the report by People for Education. Karen Brown, President of ETFO states, ”Racism remains a reprehensible, persistent reality in every aspect of society, including our education system. Significantly more needs to be done by school boards and governments to address it; this requires: action, investments, and accountability.”
She is particularly concerned by the “inconsistencies” and “under-resourced” with
respect to how it impacts BIPOC communities. She states further, “More needs to be done to address the disparities that exist in educational achievement for Black, Indigenous, and racialized students.”
President Brown believes that the Ford government is only paying lip service to the pursuit of anti-racism in schools. She notes, “We have not seen evidence of this commitment. Instead, we’ve witnessed: dereliction, minimal investment, a lack of oversight of school board’s anti-racism work, no direction on race-based data, and on-going underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and racialized educators and administrators.”
ETFO has a clear vision of what it conceives as an equitable public education system. The press release states, “For equity work to advance, school boards and governments must provide adequate funding. They must also acknowledge and dismantle the White supremacist structures that are embedded in: curriculum and instruction, assessment, discipline policies, and hiring, promotion and retention. These practices have deep historical, colonial roots that must be confronted, not shield away, because they make some people - those who hold power and privilege - uncomfortable.”
We can’t expect the legacy media, hacked by the Trudeau government, to objectively cover this issue. Will Canadians push back?”
michael@carib101.com
TC REPORTER
On March 9th, 2022, Joseph Biden signed what most financial experts called the death warrant on American freedoms, financially and literally.
Biden did something that no U.S. president has ever done. He secretly in a hushed ceremony at the White House without the knowledge of: congress, the state, or the American people signed into law executive order 14067.
Here is what he did in a nutshell.
about this plan.
The plan reads like this.
• Legal government surveillance of all citizens
• Total control over your bank account and purchases
• The ability to silence all descending voices for good
Jim Rickards, a former advisor to the Pentagon, the White House, Congress, the CIA, and the Department of Defence, plus an attorney and investment banker weighs in on the ramifications of what is in store if the people don’t reject this fraud.
“I’ve never made this kind of public announcement before, but it’s my duty to pull the alarm,” Rickards said.
Rickards explained how the plan to replace cash with a digitized version of the US dollar is far more sinister than it looks.
Every “digital dollar” will be programmed by the government; this means that they will be able to turn your money on or off at will, tracking and tracing every purchase that you make.”
Here in Canada, we have seen a ver-
sion of this kind of punishment. Canadian banks and Trudeau came together and froze the accounts of those who were considered enemies of the narrative. It will be no different with digital or traceable currency.
This is not years away; he told his audience; it is happening now. Russia and China have already launched pilot programs testing digital money schemes.
More than half of the governments of the globe and nearly 90% of central banks are exploring digital currency as we speak. Rickards revealed the urgency with which all this is happening saying, “It is not a question of will America implement a digital dollar, but just a question of when.”
When an institution as conservative as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) admits that digital currencies are the way forward as far as money is concerned, it is very concerning especially if you are a person who resents being financially controlled.
According to Rickards, CBDC will be implemented no matter who wins any future elections, this plan has been in the works for many years, also the U.S. Federal Reserve has been quietly partnering with scientists at MIT to develop a digital currency to replace the
dollar.
I mentioned in opening this article that Biden made this possible by signing the order, but imagine on March 29th, 2022, just days after Biden’s Order 14067 was signed into law, Representative Stephen F. Lynch introduced H.R. 7231, The Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware Act.
Rickards said, “I believe we’ll see the first rollout of the new digital dollar in 2023 or 2024, it is right on schedule.”
With traceable currency right behind the door, it is not farfetched to imagine governments seizing the assets and properties of their so-called enemies.
Someone once said, it is amazing how governments steal and pass it off as law. Not so long-ago Roosevelt ordered all US citizens to hand over their privately owned gold, not complying was made illegal and was punishable by huge fines and even jail time.
It will be interesting to see what the punishment for bartering with your neighbours will be if or when CBDC becomes the law of the land, imagine getting two months in jail for trading sardines for rice. Please pay attention friends, you have been warned.
STEVEN KASZAB
steven@carib101.com
TC REPORTER
The hospitals, colleges and private school systems are all trying to cash in on the popular training of healthcare workers, and as many graduates are swallowed up by the system, job vacancies still remain.
Many firms to go work for them over the years have approached me, but I will not commute many hours to the North Shore, and do not want to work MondayFriday. Are the offers lucrative? Not really. Pays similar, with no benefits, or vacation pay. The private sector is a joke, paying the same or less, demanding excess over time and has no real pension plan to boot.
Whether people retire, or decide they have had enough, going back to school to change their professions working for the government is still the bomb. The hospital administration backs you up, encourages professional advancement and seems to care about you. I have friends who entered
the private sector, working on contract, or for specialized staffing agencies and many wish they were back here in the hospital.
The media says differently, but that is the truth in B.C. It is a different world these days, with COVID making people seemingly lazy. Our hospital pays signing bonuses to hire staff, yet many people still want to work remotely, often pretending to work rather than show up to help people in need.
I am unsure how people are managing their money to live and pay for stuff as the cost-of-living skyrockets daily. I doubt their pay checks have tripled like the cost of some grocery products, yet: restaurants are full, Costco is busy, shopping malls are packed with shoppers and many jobs remain vacant.
The pandemic has made people lazy, perhaps greedy; an interesting thought. The pandemic has given many people an
McKenzie, who is one of the two individuals facing a first-degree murder charge as a result of the officer’s death, was out on bail. He was denied bail for a previous case in which he had assault and weapon charges filed against him, but was released subsequently. There was a warrant that was issued for him after he did not turn up for his court date scheduled for August 2022.
There was an outpouring of grief by his family members at the funeral of OPP Constable Greg Pierzchala who was killed in the line of duty. CTV News reported on Saturday, January 14th, that there were approximately 700 officers who attended his funeral on Thursday, January 12th, 2023. On Friday, January 13th, the premiers of all the provinces in Canada and territories sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unanimously requesting he take “immediate action” to improve Canada’s bail system.
It was reported that court documents were released indicating that Randall
The letter to the Prime Minister was initiated in Doug Ford’s Premier Office and signed by the premiers. The letter states, “There have been a growing number of calls for changes to prevent accused persons, who are out on bail, from committing further criminal acts. The justice system fundamentally needs to keep anyone who poses a threat to public safety off the streets. And this starts with meaningful changes to the Criminal Code, an area solely within the federal government’s jurisdiction.”
The letter reveals that there was a meeting in October 2022 between the Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Ministers of Justice and Public Safety in Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia. It resulted in a unified call to action for the federal government to reform Canada’s bail system. As this involves criminal law, there is a federal responsibility to ensure that there are changes made to the bail system. B.C’s justice and public safety ministers mentioned that there seems to be progress from the federal government with respect to this issue and specifically that repeat offending and violent stranger attacks were a countrywide concern.
Tom Stamatakis, President of the Canadian Police Association in an interview highlighted the fact that the death of officer Pierzchala revealed that reforms were necessary. He states, “There are a number of prolific and violent offenders who continue to present a danger to society when released, and we need to find common-sense reforms that will address those cases.”
The letter described one change that is anticipated. It notes, “A reverse onus on bail must be created for the offence of possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm in s.95 of the Code. A person
opportunity to cash in, take advantage of the system while many of us work just like before the pandemic except we have a few healthcare protocols to make our workday interesting.”
My niece did mention Premier Ford’s announcement of adding and expanding upon private clinics within Ontario to carry out simpler operations while leaving the serious operations to the hospital system. She said their B.C. hospitals maximized their operating potential two years ago, finding 36% more time and staff within their limited system to carry out furloughed operations 24 hours a day. The administration, and staff work together to accomplish their own internal hospital process.
No private clinics needed, no excuses given by politicians, but clever planning and staff determination to serve the public good.
accused of a s.95 offence should have to demonstrate why their detention is not justified when they were alleged to have committed an offence where there was imminent risk to the public, as is already the case with several offences involving firearms. A review of other firearms-related offences is also warranted to determine whether they should also attract a reverse onus on bail.”
David Lametti, Minister of Justice was asked about bail reform during a House of Commons committee hearing. He mentioned that a new bill, Bill C-75 was in the works with the collaboration of the provinces and hopes to get it out. He is aware of the delicate nature of the discussions around bail reforms. He notes, “We’re certainly there to work with the province. To the extent that Bill-75 and the reforms or their implementation - or perhaps their non-implementation in certain cases– might be a factor, we’ve engaged to look at that. We have tasked our deputy ministers, federal and provincial in order to get some more facts and to get more detail on the problem.”
No private clinics needed, no excuses given by politicians, but clever planning and staff determination to serve the public good
As a spiritual leader at the Pilgrim Church of the First Born (PCOFB) for over forty years, Reverend Dr. Gene Archer has committed his life to pastoring his local congregation. He was born on September 14th, 1952, in Jamaica, and after completing his primary and secondary education; he attended the Jamaica Theological Seminary in Kingston. He became a born-again Christian in July 1970 and after his immigration to Canada in the late 1970’s started PCOFB in Toronto in September 1977. The church will be celebrating its 47th anniversary in 2023 in what will be a historic occasion.
Rev. Archer is a Bible teacher and was an instructor at the Mount Olivet Bible Institute and Seminary (MOBIS). His church is a member of COFB Jamaica founded by Dr. Bent. The church celebrated its 87th anniversary in 2022. He is an ex officio member of the executive board of the Church of First Born Jamaica.
Reverend Archer continued his education in Canada, where he attended York University, Tyndale University and did doctoral work at Fuller Theological Seminary. He has spoken at: conferences, seminars, crusades, church anniversaries, church dedications, and varied church related events. He has a passion for teaching biblical trinitarian theology with a focus on Christology.
Rev. Archer’s hobbies include: reading, running, and learning about cellular health. He is interested in educating the community on the benefits of nutritional health. Although not a trained medical doctor, he is an avid reader and student of all aspects of: healthy eating, nutrition, and exercise.
Rev. Archer shares his wisdom on the Place for Wellness broadcast, which can be seen on Golive TV Channel. Golive TV advertises itself as the only multicultural IPTV that brings the community together. Over 2.7 million people have the ability to watch Golive TV, anytime, anywhere. It can be downloaded on the Google App store or you can get it on Google Play.
Rev. Archer discussed several topics which can be seen on Golive TV Channel at https://www.youtube.com on the following dates: August 4th, September 22nd, October 21st, November 4th, November 18th, and December 2nd. In a broadcast for PCOFB titled “Health Update” on May 17th, 2020, he mentioned that, “Your health is not an expense, it’s an investment.” The broadcasts have two functions: dealing with the spiritual and the physical side of the whole person.
In the broadcast titled, “Spiritual Safety,” on August 4th, Rev. Archer mentioned that God has given us the mucosal immune system, as the first line of defence in the body. It is an innate and adaptive (acquired) immune system. He talks about: social, relational and spiritual safety. He states, “What we crave is to be safe in relationships.” It is a place where we have a sense of belonging. It is said that the deep cry of every human heart is a cry for intimate belonging, where we feel safe to be as is.
In the broadcast on September 22nd, titled, “The Body is Sacred,” he
states, “True health is not about looking good only on the outside, but treating our bodies with the respect and care that they deserve, so they can function optimally for God’s honour and glory. What we eat, how much we sleep and the quality of it, how we think, how often we exercise all have effects on our body’s overall functionality.”
In the broadcast on November 4th, he emphasized that, “The Place of Wholeness deals with the whole person, spirit, soul, and body.” His holistic approach has empowered his followers to take a look at how they treat the temple that God has given to them.
Over the years, Rev. Archer has promoted PureTrim’s natural health products. For him they are the safest, most effective and best on the market today. The health and wellness company offers wellness shakes, multivitamins and meal replacement bars based on principles of the Mediterranean diet. The 100% Plant-based, Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Dairy-Free products attract clients worldwide.
Dr. Archer hosts free weekly 30-minute health seminars on Zoom dealing with diverse health and related nutrition topics such as: diabetes, hypertension, weight loss, cardiovascular problem, immune health, and cancer.
On Thursday, November 30th, 2022, he did a presentation on using the Synergy Defence to deal with the Immune System. He states, “70% of our immune system is in our gut. Gut health influences: brain health, liver health, hormone health, cardiovascular health, kidney health, and of course, immune system health.”
On Thursday, December 8th, 2022, he presented on dealing with liver detox and health. He states, “Liver disease is on the rise at an alarming rate. Did you know there are over 100 liver diseases caused by a variety of factors? These factors include: viruses, toxins, genetics, alcohol, and unknown causes. Non-alcoholic fatty disease is the most common liver disease in Canada, affecting over seven million people. Liver cancer is now the fastest rising and deadliest forms of cancer in Canada.”
On Thursday, January 19th, 2023, he did a presentation dealing with Cardio-9. He states, “The number one cause of death in North America is cardiovascular disease. It can be avoided, stopped, and reversed. Endothelial Dysfunction mainly causes it. The lining of the arteries is damaged because of a drastic fall off in nitric oxide production along with bad diet and eating habits.”
Written by Paul Junor Toronto Caribbean News Photo Credit: Jeff Lockhart Photo Credit: Sanj P Photographyhave stopped it for that time being but entrepreneurship has always been a part of me. At eight months pregnant, I used to do private basketball training; imagine me running training with a big belly.”
I just launched my website in 2022, but now it’s about sending people to the website, having a physical page that people can go to.
For anyone who has started a business, you know that it is full of exciting challenges and potential learning opportunities gained from the risks that come with it. To be an entrepreneur means to be someone who takes on challenges.
The young, brilliant entrepreneur that I had the honour of interviewing knows just how challenging starting a new business is. Efia Tekyi Annan is the mother of three beautiful children, and the ingenious mind behind African Royalty, a Black-owned, authentically sourced, Canadian run brand that pays homage to the rich culture and history of Africa.
African Royalty allows Efia to interact with people from all walks of life who are interested in learning about African culture. She was born and raised in Canada and proud of it, however she was raised in a Ghanaian household and identifies strongly with the Ghanaian culture. Through frequent trips and teachings in her home Efia’s parents made sure that she did not lose her connection to their country.
“On every trip I would bring back pieces of Ghana to reminisce and share with my friends,” Efia tells me.
Efia shares that her grandma was a merchant in Ghana bringing back gold and other accessories from the Obuasi gold mines to sell in the streets of Kumasi. Her mom made sure to tell her stories about the trips her mom took, and all the goods she brought back. It was only fitting that Efia would follow in her footsteps.
It was once believed that one good idea could serve a business for three generations. Today, it is more likely that each generation needs to champion at least three innovations, and Efia has taken up this responsibility with enthusiasm.
“I have always been a hustler. My first business was Efia’s Cupcakes and Tings. I would sell it to students and teachers, but they stopped it because they said I couldn’t sell stuff in school. They may
African Royalty was started back in 2014 on a trip to Ghana as Efia toured the markets of Kumasi looking for gifts to bring home to my friends. It dawned on her that it was not just her friends who needed to see and feel Ghanaian culture; it was something that needed to be shared with the world.
“When you purchase items from African Royalty you are also pledging to learn more about African culture and traditions. I have a responsibility to educate and share the history and the beauty of my parent’s homeland, expressed through the colours in our fabrics, and our beads.
In the last two years, I became aware of appropriation. Some people would buy waist beads just because they look nice, but that is not what I wanted.
Those who purchase from African Royalty not only admire the beauty Africa has to offer but also want to understand our history. African Royalty is a combination and acknowledgement of traditional African culture and modern style. Every item purchased comes with a card that gives our customers a little history lesson on the significance of the items they are purchasing.
Let’s take waist beads for example: they are about rights of passage, and weight monitoring. To be honest, it is up to the person to decide what their journey is. It is femininity and sensuality. It is supposed to be worn under your garments. You are not supposed to expose it. It is like undergarment.”
There is a lot to juggle if you are hoping to build a business; you will be wearing many hats, and probably doing tasks you never imagined. Yet, you can’t allow that to rob you of time for a full life either. Efia explained some of the struggles she has had.
“Time is always a challenge and of course money. I have been self financing and I have had to reinvest into my company. Before the George Floyd murder, people were not into the Blackness Movement, but it appears that it is cool to be black again, so business has picked up. People are not afraid to wear a sweater with the continent on it.
The direction of the company has shifted; our waist beads, sweaters, and fans are the most popular sellers, but now I am experimenting and working with African prints. I can take anything you like, and give it an African flare. I am coming out with a lot of new ideas, but finding the time can be challenging. I want the world to understand how beautiful African culture is. At first I was just selling African things, but now I am focusing on branding African Royalty
I am working on a partnership with YAAACE for Black History Month. I am going to be creating sweaters with Y in Kente Print for the basketball program. I am thankful to Mr Jones for partnering with me on this.”
During our time, Efia gave me the 411 on Kente. It is no ordinary cloth and is easily recognisable worldwide. The method of producing Kente is called strip weaving, and has existed in West Africa since the 11th century. In 1697, the King of the Ashanti Kingdom, Osei Tutu, selected several weavers from nearby towns and villages to travel to the neighbouring Ivory Coast to become experts in the complex art form.
Once they returned to Ghana, they started to weave the beautiful and colourful cloth exclusively for the King because Kente was originally made and worn only by royals. The weavers started to create their own unique designs, which are now well known worldwide as ‘Ashanti Kente’.
Today, the Ashanti royals still wear the sacred cloth usually draped across their shoulders or worn like a toga. It is worn for prestigious occasions: ceremonies, worship, outings, marriages and funerals. There are over 350 patterns for Kente Cloths.
“We need to start celebrating our wins. We have a rich culture, which I believe African Royalty is celebrating. Keep pushing, it is going to be hard, but if you believe in yourself, your business will flourish.”
You can purchase your very own African Royalty piece at https://www.africanroyalty.ca/, and her pieces can also be found at Xcentric Beauty Supply located at 645 Markham Rd Scarborough, ON.
Our staff is familiar with the diverse traditions of the customers we serve. Let us help ensure that your unique preferences are accommodated. Talk to us today and we’ll explain all your funeral options and help you through your immediate or pre-arrangement needs.
lion Americans reported having tried psilocybin at least once.
You may have preconceived ideas that magic mushrooms are the party drugs of days past. However, in Canada and other countries, regulations are starting to ease on these prohibited psychedelics. The impetus stems from clinical trials showing remarkable results in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and treatment-resistant depression. The question begs, when should you plan for a mind-altering trip?
“Magic mushrooms” grow naturally in many parts of the world. They contain psilocybin, which produces hallucinogenic effects when eaten.
A good many readers may have personal experience. According to data from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the US, an estimated 21 mil-
Despite remaining illegal for the most part in Canada, psilocybin is easy to find. Selling pre-packaged micro doses of magic mushroom powder (50 to 300 milligrams, far below the amount that would produce psychedelic effects) is becoming big business for online retailers in British Columbia. Some athletes in high stress sports are advocating for the use of micro dosing in the promotion of mental health. And Indigenous Peoples have long respected mushrooms for their medicinal properties.
The recent move by Alberta to allow psychedelic-assisted therapy means licensed providers can now treat patients with higher doses of psychedelic mushrooms for mental health disorders. A psychiatrist must oversee any treatment.
The great hope is that, even with a single dose of psychedelic mushrooms; the brain can be redirected away from troubling memory and mood ruts. For terminally ill patients, experimental treatments are showing profound results in easing the prospect of death.
Dr. Sean O’Sullivan, a clinical psy-
chiatrist and Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine at McMaster University, explains, “Psychedelics disassemble the default mode network and they allow a person to have new experiences in a carefully controlled clinical setting. When the default mode network is put back together, it’s not put back together in the same way as it was previously.”
He reports, for example, treatment of an advanced stage lung cancer patient with “One psilocybin mushroom session occasioning a mystical-type experience that she rated four months later as being the single-most personally meaningful experience of her life.”
In 1943, Winston Churchill gave the commencement address at Harvard University, noting with customary eloquence, “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” That was wartime talk about knowledge as power, but now at Harvard, it’s the modest but potent mushroom taking centre stage.
Michael Pollan is a member of Harvard’s English Department and well known for challenging notions about psychoactive plants. “Fungi constitute the most poorly understood and underappreciated
kingdom of life on earth,” he says.
Thanks to documentaries like Dosed 2: The Trip of a Lifetime, which follows a terminally ill cancer patient’s legal use of magic mushrooms to treat anxiety, understanding among common citizens is changing.
Erika Dyck is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the History of Health and Social Justice at the University of Saskatchewan. In a thoughtful commentary published by theconversation.com, she warns against the race “To push psychedelics into the medical marketplace.”
Dyck says we should “Take a sober approach to the psychedelic hype.”
The question remains; if a safe, natural, and low-cost mushroom can, in one well-guided experience, dramatically improve the well being of someone suffering from conditions like PTSD and depression, why wouldn’t a caring society want to enable its use?
We say, let’s put in place the right safeguards, and on this one, perhaps we would be well advised to turn to traditional healers for advice, not the medical establishment.
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an Kind,” 2022).
Angela Davis
Benjamin Zephiniah
Have you ever heard the term that history truly repeats itself? The veganism movement started a long time ago. There are many perspectives on being a vegan, either way there are its benefits and cons. Some activists back in the day had a revelation about vegan life. I have a few people who strongly believe in living
Did you know that Coretta Scott was an advocate for animal rights, as it was a logical extension of MLK’s philosophy of non-violence? She was a vegan for more than 10 years before her death (“The Veg-
Dr Angela Davis is a famous scholar, activist, writer and vegan. She addresses the suffering that the: meat, dairy and egg industry inflicts on both animals and humans, commenting that, “[S]entient beings … endure pain and torture as they are transformed into food for profit, food that generates disease in humans whose poverty compels them to rely on McDonald’s and KFC for nourishment” (The Vegan Kind, 2022). She encourages everyone to ask more questions concerning what is on their plates and believes that mindful eating is the key to healthy living.
Dr Amie Breeze Harper
Dr Harper, a black vegan intersectional scholar, is the creator of the Sistah Vegan Project and editor of “Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Heath and Society,” which discusses what it means to be a black female vegan, (The Vegan Kind, 2022).
Poet and Musician Benjamin Zephiniah went vegan at the age of 16 after befriending the local cats in his neighbourhood and realizing that animals were his friends. Veganism brings Benjamin peace, as he comments, “When I eat, I have a clear conscience,” (The Vegan Kind, 2022).
David Carter Former NFL player and animal rights advocate, David Carter, switched to a vegan lifestyle after watching the documentary “Forks Over Knives.” While he was inspired to transition to a vegan diet to improve his health, he was also passionate about the plight of animal suffering, stating in relation to veganism that, “It’s not just about our bodies. It’s not just about our health. It’s about humanity,” (The Vegan Kind,2022).
Alice Walker
Alice Walker is a civil rights activist and author—and the first African American
woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. She once said, “If I’m eating food, I know it was a creature in a cage, it brings up memories of segregation and the stories from my ancestors, of being in captivity and denied their personalities, their true beings. Animals were not made for us, or our use. They have their own use, which is just being who they are.”
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist and leader dubbed the “Mother of the freedom movement” by Congress; she was also a vegetarian. She’s best known for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, sparking the 1955-1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott that ultimately led to the end of public segregation in the South. Not only did she hold firm on that bus in Alabama—a radical act of rebellion at the time—she also stayed true to her goal of leading a life that minimized others’ suffering by refusing to eat meat.
LED face masks are growing in popularity and have been advertised as miracle workers by celebrities on social media. Are the benefits real? Here’s what you need to know.
Based on science
LED stands for light-emitting diode. NASA scientists first developed this technology in the early 1990s for plant growth experiments in space. Later, it was used to boost astronauts’ wound healing. The technology used in modern LED face masks is based on this proven science.
Type of light
There are several types of LED face masks on the market. Each emits a different light spectrum to deliver specific benefits and target certain skin cells. For example:
• Blue light eliminates acne-causing bacteria
• Red light increases collagen and elastin production
• Green light targets irregular pigmentation and skin discolouration
You can also find LED masks with purple, yellow and cyan lights that combine many of the above benefits.
It takes a minimum of four to six weeks of consistent use for most people to notice a difference in their skin. Although LED masks don’t generally provide drastic results, they’ve been proven to boost the skin’s radiance noticeably.
At-home vs. in-office treatment
At-home masks are less effective than in-office treatments because they aren’t as high-powered. However, the convenience and affordability often make them an attractive option.
Talk to a dermatologist to determine if an LED mask is right for you.
Chlorophyll is the natural compound that gives plants their green colour. It helps plants absorb energy and get nutrients through photosynthesis. So, what can chlorophyll do for humans? Here’s what you need to know.
Some claim that chlorophyll is a powerful cure-all that can do everything from treating arthritis and preventing weight gain to detoxifying your blood and stimulating the immune system. However, to date, there is little evidence supporting these health claims.
But chlorophyll shows some promise. Research on rodents has shown that chlorophyll has antioxidant properties that can reduce the occurrence of cancerous tumours. Some studies have also proven that chlorophyll has
anti-inflammatory effects and can be used to help treat skin conditions like acne.
You can purchase liquid chlorophyll and chlorophyll tablets from your local health food store. However, eating more green foods like spinach, kale, green beans, and peas is cheaper. Getting your nutrition from a well-balanced diet is almost always more effective than supplementation.
Keep in mind that supplements aren’t regulated as strictly as medicines. More over, it’s also possible that chlorophyll could negatively interact with the medications you’re taking. Therefore, talking with your doctor before adding chlorophyll supplements to your daily routine is best.
Problems are inevitable; in life and business. All organizations exist because there is a problem to solve. People are employed because they have problemsolving skills. Running away from problems is not the right mental approach; all successful people are problem solvers. However, Albert Einstein has rightly said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” There are many techniques and proven principles or approaches to problem-solving. A few of them include:
The 5 why technique: To get clar
on an insightful understanding of the problem and careful exploration of the root cause. The 5 Why technique is one of the most effective tools for root cause analysis in Lean management. This technique is simply applied by asking “Why” five times to get to the root of the problem. An example would be assuming the problem you are trying to solve is obesity, ask the first “why”, “Why are you obese?” Assuming the answer is because you eat unhealthy food and you don’t take time to exercise. The second why will be, why do you eat unhealthy, and why don’t you take time to exercise? Whatever your answer is, ask the third why, by the time you get to the fifth why you must have had a clearer understanding of the root cause of the problem.
The Eisenhower matrix: This technique helps prioritize tasks by dividing them into 4 categories: urgent and important, not urgent but important, urgent but not important, and not urgent or important. It helps to identify which tasks are important, and which are not, and it helps to focus on the important ones. This matrix is very effective when having challenges with choosing priorities, and it’s also a
good time management technique. SWOT analysis: This technique involves analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are associated with a problem. The SWOT analysis helps identify the internal and external factors that are important to achieving a goal or addressing a problem. By understanding these factors, it becomes easier to develop an effective solution. Once the SWOT analysis is completed, the information can be used to develop a strategy to address the problem or achieve the goal.
The design thinking method: This technique is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, creativity and experimentation. It involves understanding the needs of the end-users, prototyping solutions and testing them with real users to see what works and what doesn’t in order to arrive at the best solution.
The six-sigma method: This method is a data-driven approach to problem-solving that is used in manufacturing and other industries to improve the overall
quality and efficiency of a process. The six-sigma method is based on five key phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC). It uses statistical analysis to identify and remove the causes of defects and variability in a process. It is designed to help organizations improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their processes, and to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. This method requires dedicated resources, leadership commitment and a culture of continuous improvement to be successful.
The above techniques are just a few of the many problem-solving techniques that are available. The best approach will depend on the specific problem you’re trying to solve and the resources you have available. It’s also important to remember that problem-solving is an iterative process, and a combination of techniques may be necessary in order to achieve the best results. However, it is important to always document your winning strategy to avoid redundancy and duplicity of effort should in case similar problems occur in the future.
finding it harder to fight an illness you have. Did you know that loneliness may have triggered some hormones in your body when you are stressed, diming how well your immune system functions. If you are lonely for a long period, your blood pressure is more likely to go up. Again, stress is a factor influencing your body due to loneliness. One’s health is essentially affected by the state of your mind, whether you are happy, or sad, lonely or connected to others.
Scientific studies have found exercise as the one element that can bring lonely people outside of themselves, connecting with others and nature. Going for a walk, strolling with your friend or neighbour chips away at the hold loneliness may have upon you. Being active with pals is an excellent way to grow in relationships and expand on your selfworth.
Games are another way to snap
out of the gloom that loneliness encases us within. Mental sharpness is the answer. Games, group challenges such as chess, and board games challenge our knowledge and mental capacities, while connecting us to other participants. If you are elderly, this challenge is essential in fighting mental illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s. An active body and mind unites us to be fine and healthy.
Loneliness can and often will make you depressed, and depression is well known as an isolating agent within society. Alone, segregated from others, your depression may very well drive you to distraction, and ultimately overeating. As the funny man John Candy once said, “When I am down and alone, a pizza will always be found.” Weight gain within a society that objectifies thin and full-bodied people, can often isolate you. When people see only what is in front of them, but not the person within, depression
and loneliness can follow.
When depressed and alone you need to find things that will keep you busy and distracted from your own misery. Drinking booze and possibly illicit drugs can follow. The deeper you get into possible addiction the more isolated you become. Alone again. Cannot sleep? Well tough times often makes sleep more difficult, perhaps leading to insomnia. What a mess.
“Always look on the bright side of life.” Monty Python
It takes courage to get in front of others, sharing yourself with people who could challenge and question you, looking upon you as judge and jury. Sure, it can be difficult, but know you’re the most important person in the world, and you share this planet with other important people.
The funniest part of my trip was when I got to the border. I drove up, wondering how I was going to tell the custom officer that the only thing that I was bringing back was $100.00 worth of snacks and treats.
I should have been worried about how difficult it would be to cross the border, instead of what I was going to tell them, but my thoughts were scattered; can you blame me.
When I pulled up, the officer opened the window, “Citizenship Miss?” “Canadian.”
He reached for my passport, and I handed him the paperwork from Mark’s office. He reviewed them quickly and
looked up at me. “Do you have anything to declare?”
“Yes.” I paused, and then I picked up the bag from my seat. “I have a whole lot of candy sir.”
He started laughing. “I get it, trust me. When I cross the border, I usually pick up all of my junk food too. Have a good day Miss.”
“Thank you,” I said, relieved. I smiled to myself and drove off.
The drive home was smooth, and as usual, I did a lot of thinking. I decided to drive straight to my boyfriend's house, because I needed a break from home. I knew that if I went home, my mom would be asking me a million and one questions, and I was not in the mood.
I have not spoken about my relationship with David for a minute, and for good reason. Things with him were not good. When I look back at things now, I realize that I should have given him his space to process everything. Since I had been back, he had shared just how difficult it had been for him. It was one of the reasons why he had been so upset with
cans.
desmond@carib101.com CARIBBEAN
In an effort to diminish the heinousness of the crime against humanity represented by slavery, White supremacists have propagated the false narrative that the Africans who were transported across the Atlantic between 1500 and 1850 had already been slaves in Africa therefore no one should have a problem with slavery in the Americas.
We Africans, both in the Americas and in Africa, need to be careful regarding the language we use lest we unwittingly subscribe to and promulgate that false narrative.
Take the use of the terms ‘slave trade’, ‘slave traders’ and ‘slave ships’ to refer to the trafficking of kidnapped Africans across the Atlantic, the persons who engaged in that horrific endeavour, and the ships that transported the kidnap victims. We need to characterize the whole system correctly.
The Africans were not slaves in Africa. The Europeans through threats or bribery captured them in inter-tribal wars. Therefore, the persons transporting these kidnap victims/prisoners of war across the Atlantic were not ‘slave traders’ they were human traffickers. The ships were human trafficking vessels, and the trade was human trafficking not ‘slave trading’. Our ancestors did not become enslaved until they were sold in the ‘slave markets’ after landing in the Americas at which point, they became enslaved Afri-
We never talk about ‘Irish indentures’ or ‘the indentures’ when speaking about the indentured Irish, so why don’t we accord Africans the same respect and refrain from using the terms ‘African slaves’ or ‘the slaves’ to refer to the enslaved Africans.
Similarly, we should never use the terms ‘slave revolt’ or ‘slave uprising’ to refer to their attempts to gain their freedom. Rather those were revolts or uprisings by enslaved Africans.
Another example of the way in which Whites use language to influence our thinking about slavery is when they use the term “running away” as if they were unhappy or disgruntled children running away from home.
We wouldn’t say that Papillon “ran away” from Devil’s Island or that prisoners of war “ran away” from POW camps. Enslaved Africans did not “run away” from plantations or mines, they escaped. Escaping or even planning an escape required tremendous courage, determination, and fortitude. The dangers included being tracked by Black Miskito/Miskito Zambo trackers and being torn apart by Cuban “Bloodhounds” which were not actually bloodhounds but were attack dogs (Dogo Cubano) bred specifically to hunt Africans.
Similarly, we should never say that “Slaves were imported into country x.” This information should be rendered as “Kidnapped Africans were trafficked to country x and sold into slavery.”
So, to sum it up, we need to think carefully about the message we are conveying when we use the words racist Whites have deliberately associated with slavery.
me when I got back. Although we hung out together still, there was a noticeable difference in how he treated me. The loving, sweet person that I knew was gone. A sullen, quiet man who at times was sweet to me, but at times was very dark, secretive replaced him.
When I got to David’s house, I had to wait downstairs. He was out running errands, so I took the time to reflect on the day. I realized how anxious I had been because the ache that I had felt earlier in the day was gone. I was a little hungry, so I decided to head over to the mall that was located close to David’s house. I figured instead of waiting in the car, I would head there.
He still had not given me back keys to his house, which shows you where his mind was. I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that he had lost respect for me, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I had ended up in prison, or if it was his thoughts about what he believed he had seen on the phone. Regardless, being
around him felt different; almost like being around a stranger.
My phone rang and snapped me out of my thoughts. It was David.
“Hey,” I answered. “Are you home yet? I am over by the mall grabbing a bite to eat, did you want anything.”
“No, I am good. I will be home in about 20 minutes. You can meet me there.”
Maybe I was oversensitive that day, because I sensed something in his voice. “Are you okay?”
“Yes! Just had a long day. Pick me up something, it doesn’t matter what. I am hungry and it has been a long day. See you later.”
“Okay, I love…." Click.
He hung up the phone, and I sat there looking at the screen. I knew in my head that it was over, but denial is a real thing. I should have left him alone, but the heart wants what it wants.
I
sean@carib101.com
THE HEIGHTENED CHEF
Back in early 2020 when Adrian Davidstein started his company DNA Drink Solutions, which Dope Cocktails was a service of, it had humble beginnings, but its goal of achieving success was always certain. Launched from a well-orchestrated pop-up cocktail party in downtown Toronto, word quickly spread like wildfire across the local cannabis community about his amazing concoctions and incredible service. Having collaborated with Dope Cock-
tails myself through several of The Heightened Chef dinner party events, I can confidently vouch for the high quality of class they bring to any atmosphere. Adrian is able to customize signature cocktails to fit any type of event with almost any theme. His superior mixology skills allow him to navigate complex yet nuanced flavours and terpenes in every drink.
While the flair of his bar service and the flamboyance of his beverages speak volumes, Adrian is a most modest fellow with the exception of his enviable sneaker game. This balance of energy is no doubt born from Dope Cocktails very personal tragic origin. Boldly, he chose to make strength out of weakness by starting his company on the path to recovery from serious drug addiction.
Frustrated by existing treatments that were not interacting with his body well, he looked for another way. Luckily his doctor was wise enough to recommend cannabis as addiction treatment but could not provide any information. After researching for himself, he had a literal life changing experience by using THC and CBD in a morning coffee. He was provided relief from his ailments in a way that was better, and healthier than current chemical treatments.
“All of a sudden I felt like I finally had something that made me feel safe about coming back from being messed up by life threatening drugs.” Using this motivation and his unique perspective on controlled substances, he identified that not many options existed for people like himself and many others. Recognizing that methods for consumption were also sorely lacking, he saw that infused cocktails was the perfect entrance into the cannabis market. The business was not only a ladder to success but also an active part of his recovery process, and personal growth.
The existing cannabis community welcomed Adrian and he began creating his own following. His rise to popularity was meteoric and his event schedule quickly became super busy both domestically and internationally. Now he stands on the cusp of moving from the craft market to the mass market.
Making the leap from Legacy cannabis to the licensed arena is the dream of every business in the field. Approached by corporate licensed producers Black Rose and 3C Cannabis Collective, who recognized his phenomenal product, he would be given the opportunity to scale up his business. With the keen foresight to foster growth from craft creators, they would provide the
Medical waste must be disposed of responsibly. Otherwise, it can contaminate water sources, poison wildlife and threaten the health of people living near disposal sites. Here are a few guidelines.
Sharp objects and needles
Needles, syringes and blades should be
disposed of in a special biomedical or sharp-waste container. Never put sharp objects in your regular household garbage or recycling bins.
Contaminated solids
Products soiled with blood or bodily fluids, such as dressings, gauze, ban-
dages and swabs, should be disposed of in a plastic bag tied at the top. If the first bag is soiled, double-bag the items and put them with your regular household garbage.
Medications
Unused or outdated medications must
Are you committed to green living, even in how you care for your cat or dog? Here are a few tips for sustainable pet ownership.
1. Adopt. Instead of buying from a breeder, support a local animal shelter. This helps reduce the number of animals on the streets and prevents you from supporting unethical breeding techniques like puppy mills.
2. Spay or neuter your pet. Spaying or neutering your pet helps prevent
animal overpopulation. In addition, spaying or neutering your pets gi¬ves them a better quality of life and reduces the risk of certain illnesses.
3. Buy pet toys made of natural materials. Many pet toys contain harmful plastics and synthetic materials that harm the environment. Look for toys made with natural materials like organic cotton, hemp, rubber and wood. You can also get creative and DIY your pet toys.
4. Feed your pet high-quality food.
Purchase pet food that uses by-products from animal agriculture that would otherwise be wasted. Moreover, prioritize food brands that use sustainable packaging like cardboard and paper.
5. Be mindful of pet waste. Improperly disposed-of pet waste can negatively impact the environment. If you have a cat, look for litter that contains compostable or biodegradable materials like corn, dried wood, wheat and newspaper. If you have a dog, collect waste in biodegradable
much-needed resources and corporate business acumen needed to make the transition.
It would take some time to formulate what exactly would be offered from Dope Cocktails in the currently highly regulated licensed market. Several months of development was rewarded with powdered and syrup derivatives of his original cocktail creations. Dope Mocktails will be available through OCS dispensaries across Ontario in February 2023.
Unique and exciting flavours are geared towards true beverage connoisseurs by rewarding them with subtly complex notes on their palettes. Limonene Cordial (Sativa), Sweet Dream (Hybrid) and Calm-o-mile (Full Spectrum) are just a few examples from their initial offering with many more slated for future release.
Watching someone ascend to another tier of success is always exciting, but also inspiring. Knowing that it can manifest for someone as cool and deserving as Dope Cocktails instils confidence that dope stuff does happen to dope people.
Check out Dope Cocktails on Instagram to support or go to www. dope-cocktails.com to find out how you can enjoy an irreplaceable experience!
be returned to your local pharmacy. Never flush me-dications down the toilet.
Reach out to your local waste management department if you’re unsure how to dispose of a speci¬fic type of waste.
or compostable bags.
6. Eco-friendly flea prevention. Avoid store-bought flea and tick products like collars, topical treatments, and sprays whenever possible. These products contain harmful chemicals. Focus on regularly grooming your pets, washing their bedding and vacuuming your home to keep fleas at bay.
Speak to your veterinarian for more tips on keeping your pet happy and healthy while protecting the environment.
It’s common knowledge that cycling is a great way to reduce your environmental footprint and help the planet. However, advances in electric technology have given way to new and unconventional modes of transportation. Here are three cycling alternatives.
1. Electric kick scooters have two wheels, a platform and handlebars for steering. They’re lightweight,
foldable and can travel between 40 and 60 kilometres in one go. Most models are modestly priced at a few hundred dollars and offer years of convenient performance.
2. The OneWheel™ is a type of electric skateboard that can travel on various terrains, including grass, gravel and pavement. However, unlike most electric skateboards, the Onewheel™ doesn’t require
a handheld remote, allowing riders to control direction using their body weight and core. The Onewheel™ can reach speeds up to 30 kilometres per hour and travel up to 48 kilometres on a single charge.
3. Hover shoes are very similar to hoverboards, except they consist of two separate motorized wheels connected to a pair of articulated pads. Most hover shoes can reach
a top speed of about 10 kilometres per hour and typically offer anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes of run time on a full charge. This makes them perfect for quick trips to the store.
Why not try one of these technologies if you’re interested in alternative ways to get to work, school or the grocery store?
Choosing to adopt a dog or cat is a big decision that will impact everyone in your household. Avoid making this choice on a whim. Instead, addressing the following questions as a family will help you to make an informed and responsible decision.
1. Do you rent your home?
Frequently, landlords don’t allow animals to live on their premises. Or if they do permit them, it’s only under certain conditions (such as if a dog weighs less than 10 kilograms).
2. Will the animal be left alone?
It’s not recommended that you leave a dog alone without outdoor access for more than eight hours. Cats, being more independent, are typically fine being alone for long stretches and can relieve themselves in a litter box.
3. Does a family member have allergies?
If you’re unsure, get tested by a health professional before adopting a pet.
4. Do you enjoy walking?
Just like us, dogs and cats need to exercise to stay healthy. A daily 60-minute walk is recommended for dogs.
5. Is the animal good with children?
Certain breeds of cats and dogs take to children much easier than others. If you have young children, consult with an animal behaviourist for help finding an appropriate pet for your family.
6. What’s your budget?
Add up the various expenses that come with owning an animal, such as the costs for food, toys, crates, carriers, licenses, veterinarian visits, spaying or neutering, and litter and litter boxes for cats. Are you sure you can afford to take care of a pet? Make sure you also factor in unforeseeable medical expenses — it’s possible your pet may need life-saving surgery someday. However, you can purchase insurance that will insulate you against large medical costs.
It’s one thing to be “man’s best friend,” but some dogs are veritable lifesavers. Certain special service dogs known as diabetic alert dogs are trained to attend to diabetics by identifying and reporting on dangerous changes in blood sugar levels.
These extraordinary canines detect a person’s blood sugar level via the scent of their breath and sweat. How exactly they do this scientists still don’t know for sure. However, research at the University of Cambridge has shown that
a volatile, scentless-to-humans chemical called isoprene is present at higher levels in the breath when a person’s blood sugar drops. Researchers suspect that dogs, whose sense of smell is about 60 times greater than ours, can detect the scent of this chemical.
When a diabetic alert dog detects a drop in their human companion’s blood sugar level, they alert them by barking, activating an alarm or tapping them with their muzzle.
Every year, thousands of healthy adult dogs and cats end up in shelters. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find these animals new homes. Part of the problem is that people who adopt their pets tend
to prefer younger animals over older ones, mistakenly believing that adults are more at risk of contracting illnesses. They may also worry that an older animal is more prone to experiencing difficulties in adapting to a new environment. But neither of these things are givens. In fact, there are numerous advantages of adopting an adult pet. Here are four of them.
1 . They’re trained: adult dogs and cats are housebroken and socialized.
2. They have fewer immediate medical needs: most adult pets
have already been vaccinated and spayed or neutered.
3. Their health and behavioural profile are known: in most cases you’ll have a good idea of what to expect when you adopt your older pet.
4. They have many good years left: a dog usually lives to the age of 12 and a cat to the age of 15. Although puppies and kittens are exuberant and adorable, older pets have just as much to offer. What they lack in youth, they make up for with an abundance of love, loyalty and gratitude.
Just like humans, cats and dogs can suffer from diabetes mellitus. Nick named the “silent killer,” this chronic disease is caused by a lack of insulin or an inability to use it.
Normally, insulin is secreted by the pancreas and delivers glucose from the bloodstream into the body’s cells where it’s then used as energy. But when there’s an insulin deficiency, or the cells in the body are unable to use the insulin it produces, an abnormally high blood sugar level is the result.
If left untreated, diabetes mellitus can cause health complications like cataracts, urinary tract infections, seizures and kidney failure. In the very worst cases, it can induce a coma or even lead to death.
All cats are at risk of suffering from diabetes mellitus, especially as they age. It’s a bit different with dogs. The risk of developing the condition is higher among certain breeds like Maltese, dachshunds, miniature poodles and Labradors. But whatever the breed, unneutered females, older dogs and those that are obese are among the most regularly affected.
Early signs of diabetes to watch for in your animal include excessive thirst, increased urination, increased appetite and weight loss. Advanced signs include loss of appetite, lack of energy, depressed attitude and vomiting. If you observe such changes in your animal, consult a veterinarian right away. The quicker a diagnosis can be made (using blood and urine tests), the better the chances of your pet living comfortably with the condition.
Diabetes is treated in animals in much the same way as it is in humans: through daily insulin shots, a special diet and moderate but consistent exercise. Diligently following these recommendations and all others given by your veterinarian will help your pet live a healthy, normal life.
Mortgage rates soared last year. A few more rate hikes are possible this year. Financially, the load is heavier for homeowners—especially those who are on variable mortgage rates. Will the real estate market collapse? Will home prices plummet? Let’s look at the forecast.
Currently, there are not as many homes on the market. When supply is low, demand is high. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) noted that “In terms of monthly new supply, the bigger picture is listings are not flooding the market.” CREA is an association that represents realtors across Canada. CREA forecasted that for 2023, prices will fall by 2.3% year-over-year.
“With interest rates on the rise, home sales have continued to cool. In some parts of the country, home prices have fallen from their peaks reached earlier this year, are flat in some regions, and are still climbing in others. The issue of not enough homes for sale has not gone away,” CREA noted.
The reduction is across Canada. The GTA is heavily populated and there is a shortage of affordable homes. During the pandemic, home prices rose swiftly. The economy overheated and the cost of living increased. Basic necessities became expensive. There were seven interest rate hikes in 2022 in an effort to cool the market.
Phil Soper, President and CEO of Royal LePage, explained, “Comparing prices to previous years, the first quarter of 2023 should show the deepest decline in home value. We expect year-over-year comparisons to show progressively less price decline as the year goes on, with small week-to-week improvements in the third and fourth quarters, allowing Canadian home values to end 2023 essentially flat to where we are today.”
TD Bank predicts a price drop of 10.7% for 2023. “Weaker sales activity should push prices even lower in the near term. However, our forecast calls for average price to only partially retrace their pre-pandemic gains when they eventually bottom. An unanticipated surge in resale supply would undermine this view, but so far, the rate at which new listings are hitting the market has been subdued,” said Rishi Sondhi, from TD Economics.
Mr. Sondhi thinks that prices will decline in the first half of 2023 but level off in the second half. During the pandemic, house prices went up 64% but came down by 20% with rising interest rates.
Christopher Alexander, RE/MAX Canada’s president, commented that “Canadians are understandably hesitant to engage in the market early 2023. Despite this, more Canadians see real estate as a solid long-term investment when compared to this time last year.” RE/MAX forecasts a 3.3% year-over year drop for 2023.
Fitch Ratings is one of the largest and most respected credit rating agencies in the world. Fitch Ratings has predicted between 5-7% decline in prices. According to Fitch Ratings, “Home price softening will be most severe in Canada, whose anticipated peak-to-trough decline of 15%, as measured by the mid-point of our forecast
ranges, is almost the steepest of the markets profiled.”
Most of the price drop has already happened. Interest rates doubled during the second half of 2022, but home prices fell by about 20%. The central bank might soon raise rates by a quarter point. This will slow down the rate of inflation during the first half of 2023. Real Estate in the GTA is holding strong despite interest rate hikes. Many home owners are choosing to keep their current home. Supplies are quickly drying up.
Increasing interest rates is a temporary solution for the heated housing market. The root caused for price acceleration is a lack of supply. With immigration, the GTA population has exploded. The cost
for shelter will continue to climb.
2023 would be a good year for real estate. The best time to buy a home is in the first half of this year. If you are selling and buying, then, anytime is a good time. If you sell low, then you will buy low and vice versa. Interest rates will level off. During the second half, the market will rekindle. Towards the end of 2023, the interest rate should come down slightly. That will be fuel for the market.
We are living in uncertain times. It’s a good idea to reduce debts and build a financial reserve. Cost of living will remain high. It’s dangerous to walk on thin ice with spiked heels.
With the right tools, the average home owner can install a new countertop over the weekend. Here’s how to do it in three easy steps.
1. Remove. Shut off your home’s water supply and disconnect the sink. Then, remove the old countertop.
2. Cut. Determine the dimensions of the new countertop. Allow an extra 2.5 centimetres for islands and overhangs. Use a scribe to cut the sides that touch an
uneven wall surface.
3. Install. Depending on the material of your countertop, you may need to apply a protective sealant and use special adhesives or screws. Ensure the countertop is secure and stable before re-connecting the plumbing and replacing the sink.
Look for a professional in your area if you’d rather leave this task to an expert.
Keep an eye out for arches when planning home design and decorating projects for 2023. Their smooth lines, evocative of eastern ideals of space organization, promote inner balance and elevate your mood. Here are some ways to incorporate arches into your space.
Large scale remodel
If you’re planning a major renovation, consider including arches in the structure of your home. Turn boring thresholds into elegant arched entryways or install half-moon windows. For added drama, install curved wooden ceiling beams.
Small design features
Update the focal points in your rooms. For
example, give your fireplace mantle a new look with an arch-shaped art piece. You could also create a curved headboard with backlighting to evoke the feeling of a romantic sunset.
Little touches
You don’t have to invest in an extensive remodel to bring arches into your decor. Use curved moulding to create a DIY wall feature. Explore yard sales and second-hand shops for vintage mirrors and furniture with arch details. You could also experiment with an eye-catching paint colour by adding a geometric arch shape on an accent wall.
Talk to a design adviser at your local home improvement store for more ideas.
Most people dream about creating a welcoming, tidy and attractive home. However, creating a magazine-worthy space can be pricey. Fortunately, there are several inexpensive ways to make a stylish residence. Here are four smart ideas.
1. Display your fashion accessories
Use nails, hooks, shelves or pegboard to artistically display your most beautiful, eccentric or elegant accessories like hats, evening bags, stilettos, watches and ties.
2. Create a bold accent wall
Transform the end of a hallway or large wall into a statement piece. For example, you can use a contrasting paint colour or apply a uniquely patterned wallpaper. Using recycled paint or liquidation wallpaper is even better.
3. Multiply the plants
Walking into a room full of plants instan¬tly makes you feel good. Fortunately, you can find beautiful, affordable and easy-to-care-for plants at local stores. If your friends have green thumbs, ask them for a few cuttings.
4. Choose used accessories
With some research, you can find one-ofa-kind decor in classified ads, thrift stores, second-hand stores and garage sales. For exam¬ple, you can pick up mirrors, knickknacks, frames, lamps and vases in good condition at ridiculously low prices.
With a bit of imagination and resourcefulness, decorating your home can be affordable and fun.
Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. You already have a few numbers to get you started. Remember: You must not repeat the numbers 1 through 9 in the same line, column, or
WEEK OF JANUARY 29 TO FEBRUARY 4, 2023
The luckiest signs this week: CANCER, LEO AND VIRGO
ARIES
Physical activity is excellent for your health. You’ll find people that want to participate in an inspiring activity or discuss spirituality with you.
TAURUS
This week will be full of action if you have young children and an active social life. In your love life, there’ll be talk of taking a trip or romantic getaway to refuel the passion in your relationship.
GEMINI
The strain of winter can drain your vitality. This is an excellent time to free your imagination and undertake creative work.
If large groups of people constantly surround you, you may sometimes feel stressed and anxious. It would help if you rested before the end of the week to recharge your batteries.
LEO
You may be given new and important responsibilities at work. People will greatly appreciate your efforts and want to do business with you. You’re known for being reliable.
VIRGO
You’ll be in the mood to travel or go on an adventure. New surprises, each more extraordinary than the last, will inspire you. You may consider going back to school.
LIBRA
Your emotions will run high if you’re in a precarious financial situation. Fortunately, a solution will present itself without delay, and you’ll find your way back to abundance.
SCORPIO
You’ll have to negotiate carefully with the people you love. You’ll be more vulnerable or fragile when emotions are involved. Take a step back to see things from a different perspective.
SAGITTARIUS
Success on the professional front awaits you. You’ll bring together as many clients as possible to a particular event, or you’ll benefit from excellent discounts, boosting your profits.
CAPRICORN
Your enthusiasm and initiative will put you in the spotlight and propel you to success. You’ll be applauded for your efforts and receive a medal or recognition.
AQUARIUS
You’ll be a homebody this week or spend much time with family. Your family members may impose extra responsibilities on you; at least one of them needs your care.
Take the time to negotiate the best price when shopping. You only need to raise your voice a little to be heard and respected. Speak your mind to rid yourself of negative emotions.
LAND FOR SALE NEAR MANDEVILLE JAMAICA: A little over 1/3 acre residential land just a few minutes outside of Mandeville and the Northern Caribbean University (NCU). This affordable lot is located in the cool and peaceful New Wales community.
Tel: 647-884-8977
LIVE IN CARE GIVER: Available to work. Prefer live in position. 905-240-0271
LIVE OUT HOUSE KEEPER:
PART TIME DELIVERY DRIVERS: Approximately 4-6 hours commitment every second Wednesday.
Drivers needed for:
• Scarborough/Pickering/ Ajax
• North York/Rexdale/ Malton
• Brampton/Mississauga
Driver must have SUV or Van. Call 647-722-6298 to apply.
FOR RENT: Large Commercial Property: Kingston Road/Cliffside Village. 950 ft2. Main floor $4,200/month +HST, hydro. One rear parking space. Suitable for salon/barber, cellphone dealer, professional offices. Vibrant district. 416-888-8180.
FOR RENT: Furnished 1 BedBasement Apart For Rent! Separate Entrance, Private Kitchen & Washroom. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Morningside Avenue & Kingston Road. $1,550.00/ month including utilities. Please call (416)459-6155.
SUNDAY SERVICE: Fountain of Truth Ministries Pastor: Reverend Maxine Campbell Worship Address: 2170 Kipling Avenue, Etobicoke Percy Johnson School – Cafeteria Sundays: 10.am – 2. pm Teaching, Worship, Ministering For info call: 416 748 0211
MISSISSAUGA: Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church invites you to join us at 1620 Dundas St West, each Sunday at 10am for praise, worship and in-depth Bible teaching with Pastor Sean, 416-219-9137
We are in the process of expansion and constantly looking for the best of the best! Dedicated salespeople; people interested in opportunities to help others while also being able to help themselves. For more information, please contact Trish 647-722-6298 or trish@carib101.com
What is an RRSP?
A Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is a type of savings account that you can set up with a financial institution such as a bank and that’s registered with the Canadian government. There are special rules relating to how you and the government can treat money contributed to this kind of plan.
What is it for?
An RRSP is meant to encourage you to save money in the long term by earning interest
on the money you’ve contributed. If you contribute money from your salary to your RRSP, that money can also be deducted from the income taxes you file yearly. Furthermore, the money you put in an RRSP isn’t subject to taxes until you withdraw it, so it grows faster than in other types of accounts.
Why is it a good idea?
Because of the special tax exemption rules, an RRSP is typically considered to be a safe and steady way to grow your money over a
long period of time. If you’re far in your future, you may want to consider a higher-risk account, like a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), in addition to an RRSP. Once you get closer to retirement and value security over growth, the RRSP is a more reliable choice.
An RRSP is just one of many strategies that can make your money work for you. The sooner you start investing in your own future, the sooner you’ll be able to feel secure in your financial life.
Whether you’re saving for retirement or a house, having a savings goal is an essential part of financial stability. Between unexpected illnesses and little weekly luxuries, however, meeting that goal isn’t always an easy task. Here are five tips to help you stay on track:
1. Get invested in your savings. The more educated and active you are when it comes to making your money work for you, the more it will feel like an accomplishment to see your savings increase.
2. Set savings milestones, and budget in a reward for yourself when you meet them.
3. Prevent yourself from spending if you have to. Credit card issuers and banks now have lots of ways for you to enforce spending limits on yourself. Don’t be embarrassed to take advantage of them if you feel they might help.
4. Don’t worry too much about your luxuries. What matters is how much you’re spending on luxuries like clothes or fancy dinners. Don’t feel bad about what type of luxuries
you buy as long the costs stay within budget.
5. Be open to new plans. A savings plan is just a rough draft. While you should remain focused on a specific savings goal, don’t be afraid to change your method along the way if an opportunity presents itself. Once you have more experience with money management, you might take on more risk than when you’re just starting out.
With a combination of planning and flexibility, anyone can meet their savings goals.
The short answer: immediately. But what it means to start saving for retirement is different for everyone. What’s essential is knowing what you want your retirement to be like and making a plan to get there. Here are three questions to ask yourself when planning for the future:
1. How long do I want to work?
Some people can’t wait to retire, while others have a hard time imagining their life without work. How long you’d like to work will drastically affect how you plan for retire -
ment.
2. What do I want to do in retirement?
On average, we’re living longer lives than ever before. Retirement is now a significant and potentially richly rewarding period of your life. Do you want to spend it travelling? Devoting yourself to your family? What you want to do will determine your financial needs.
3. Are my expectations realistic?
If your retirement is still far in the future, you
can expect that your situation will change in ways you didn’t expect, both good and bad. At the same time, it’s probably not a good idea to wait around for a miracle to happen to increase your savings. Be honest about what you want for retirement and what you need to do to get there.
No matter how you envision your retirement, you can be sure that having a plan early will help you toward a more certain and stable path to financial security once you exit the workforce.
No matter how old you are, planning for your financial well-being as a senior is a good idea. Whether you choose to continue working or to retire, your relationship to your money will inevitably change as you get older. It may not be the most exciting topic, but your financial plan will be the foundation for many of your decisions in years to come. Here are two important issues to consider about financial planning:
Decide who will have power of attorney
It’s important to consider who should be
given power of attorney in case something unforeseen happens that renders you unable to manage your finances. It’s essential to have a plan in place to ensure that your wishes will be honoured and to prevent confusion amongst your loved ones. Choosing who will be responsible for your finances is a serious decision, and there are many different ways to divide responsibilities. Be sure to weigh all your options and consult with a professional before making this decision.
If you’re interested in sharing only some of the burden of financial management with a loved one, you can also consider setting up a joint bank account and dividing certain financial responsibilities between yourself and someone you trust to look after your interests.
Mixing family (or friends) and finances can be tricky. No matter how much you trust someone, always prioritize your own best interests and take every precaution that you would with a third party.
No matter how well you maintain your car, minor scratches are bound to happen. The good news is that there’s an easy way to fix them, and you don’t have to be an auto body technician. Here’s what you’ll need from your local auto parts store:
• A can of clear coat
• Polishing compound
• Fine sandpaper
• Touch-up paint
• A clean cloth
• Car wax
• Soap
GUIDE - Follow these steps to eliminate scratches:
A chipped windshield can happen anywhere at any time. You may think a little star-shaped chip is nothing to worry about. However, driving with a chipped windshield can lead to some significant problems and safety concerns.
Chips can lead to cracks
Driving with a chipped windshield on rough roads or through potholes will cause the windshield to vibrate, and the tiny chip can turn into a large crack. Temperature fluctuations caused by air conditioners on hot days also cause the glass to expand and contract, worsening the cracks in your windshield.
Chips can limit your vision
A windshield chip may interfere with your field of vision, making it difficult to see animals, cyclists or pedestrians. This is dange -
rous and could cause an accident.
It compromises the car’s structural integrity
The windshield plays a crucial role in your vehicle’s structural integrity and is designed to protect people inside from rollovers. If you roll over with a chipped or cracked windshield, the entire windshield could collapse, potentially causing passengers to be injured or ejected from the vehicle.
A chipped or cracked windshield can also prevent your airbags from working properly, as airbags are designed to inflate against the windshield.
If your windshield is chipped, visit an auto glass repair shop as soon as possible. Most chips can be quickly and cheaply repaired while you wait.
1. Wash your car with soap and water, especially around the damaged areas you want to fix. Dry it thoroughly. The products will adhere better to a clean vehicle.
2. Using fine-grit sandpaper, sand the scratched areas until the paint is level with the deepest part of the scratch.
3. Find the paint shade that matches your car exactly. Distribute it evenly with a cotton swab. Allow the paint to dry completely.
4. Sand the touchup paint until it’s smooth and level with the surrounding area.
5. Apply a layer of clear coat, and let
it dry for 10 minutes. Apply another layer of clear coat and wait an hour to let it dry completely.
6. Sand the area with fine-grit sandpaper and apply the polishing compound. Dab a small amount on a clean cloth and apply it using a circular motion to make the area smooth.
7. Apply car wax to the painted area to make it shine and protect the paint.
If you don’t have the time to fix the scratches on your car, visit your local auto body repair shop.