Families who missed out on a chance to ride the Stanley Park Train this holiday season may be in luck.
The Vancouver Park board said Wednesday it will be extending the winter Bright Nights event until Jan. 6, meaning another 17,000 tickets will be released for the popular train attraction.
Popular Stanley Park Bright Lights tickets sell out
The train has been out of service for more than a year due to mechanical woes. The city announced earlier this month it would be back in time for the annual Bright Nights event, but with just one locomotive.
Tickets to the event subsequently sold out quickly.
The park board confirmed Wednesday that the locomotive had passed a Technical Safety BC inspection necessary to return to service.
Stanley Park Train to get rolling again
Trending Now
The new batch of tickets is slated to go on sale Thursday morning, with access to the purchasing waiting room opening at 8:30 a.m. and tickets on sale at 9 a.m. You can purchase tickets here.
Police funding was once again a contentious topic at the final public input session ahead of the finalization of the 2024 regional budget.
Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) is requesting a $14 million increase to their budget to address their staffing shortage by hiring 18 more officers, among rising inflation and increased benefit costs.
Mark Egers, President of the Waterloo Regional Police Association was one of the delegates Wednesday night, and he told Council that the region’s rapid expansion has put too much pressure on staff.
“This cannot continue,” said Egers. “Especially if we want our members to perform at their best, remain healthy and stay on the job to protect and serve our communities. Quite frankly, we’re in a crisis and desperately need more human resources. This crisis did not happen overnight. It is the outcome of years of chronic under-resourcing.”
After Egers’ presentation, Regional Councillor Rob Deutschmann asked Egers about how WRPS could need such a significant funding increase to hire more officers when they had a surplus last year and didn’t make enough hires.
Egers told Deutschmann that WRPS has never had sustainable staffing, and now they have a lot of ‘baby boomers’ retiring.
“We are so far behind the rest of the province right now,” said Egers. “If we’re losing members, it’s because of their workload. They’re going call-to-call for 12 hours per day, which is unsustainable.”
Egers added that underfunding the police would be a huge detriment to the safety of the community.
Meanwhile outside council chambers, several community groups were rallying. They are calling for regional councillors to divert extra police funding to social services.
“Every year the police seem to run a surplus,” said Acer Bonaparte of Ground Up WR. “Right now they have a rainy day fund of $14 million, yet they continue to ask for more money and council just continues to approve that. Meanwhile, social services suffer and have to beg for scraps.”
Members from community groups in Waterloo Region rallied outside council chambers calling on councillors to reject the WRPS budget. /Jonathan Strom
December 13 marks final budget day for the Region of Waterloo.
As holiday shoppers return items purchased during Black Friday and Cyber Monday online shopping sprees, more U.S. retailers could tell them to keep items that cost more to ship back than they are worth.
This year, 59 per cent of retailers offer so-called “returnless” or “keep it” policies for unwanted products whose returns costs exceed their value, according to returns services firm goTRG, which surveyed 500 executives at 21 major retailers, including Walmart WMT-N and Amazon.com AMZN-Q.
Last year, 500 retail executives said 26 per cent of companies had such policies, said goTRG CEO Sender Shamiss, whose company counts Walmart among its clients. They didn’t break out the number of companies involved in last year’s survey.
As retailers adopt technology to root out excess costs, more are embracing returnless policies for certain online purchases, said Shamiss, who declined to name companies that use them. That information is “not something that retailers want out there” due to worries the policies could be abused by shoppers, he said.
The previously unreported survey results come as U.S. shoppers are expected to return $173-billion worth of holiday purchases in the U.S. this year, 28 per cent more than last year, according to Optoro. The firm helps retailers manage returns, which typically rise after pre-Christmas sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday and continue beyond Christmas.
“Our returns Super Bowl starts the day after Black Friday and goes into February,” said Optoro CEO Amena Ali, comparing her sector’s busy season to one of America’s biggest sporting events.
The typical return costs retailers about $30. Returns drain profits because they must be transported, sorted and resold – often at a discount – or disposed of at a loss. That has helped prompt almost 90 per cent of retailers to revise a range of policies this year, Ali said. Those changes also include offering store credit, charging for some returns and encouraging shoppers to bring online purchases back to physical stores.
“You just can’t afford to ignore it,” she said of returns costs.
Reuters recently viewed a Walmart YouTube tutorial from February that helps marketplace sellers set parameters for their own returnless policies.
Walmart said it balances customer experience and its bottom line when considering exchanges and returns. That includes testing ways to help third-party sellers manage costs. The company called the training video out of date and it is now labelled private.
Seventeen shoppers interviewed by Reuters said companies including Amazon.com, Chewy.com, eBay, Temu, Keurig, Wayfair and t-shirt seller True Classic told them not to return goods valued from around $20 to as much as $300 – including several that were defective or shipped in error.
Amazon said it allows customers to keep items on “a small number of returns as a convenience and to help keep prices low.” Wayfair customers in certain cases may have the option to keep items at a discount, according to the online furniture seller. Other retailers named by the shoppers did not respond to requests for comment.
The percentage of returns was nearly double pre-pandemic levels last year, standing at 16.5 per cent of total U.S. retail sales – or $816.8-billion worth of goods, according to data from Appriss Retail and the National Retail Federation.
Sellers of underwear, bedding and food were among the first adopters of keep it returns due to hygiene concerns or health safety rules. Shapewear seller Shapermint uses the policy to build loyalty by asking shoppers to donate the items or gift them to friends, said Gabrielle Richards, brand director at Trafilea, which owns the company.
The practice went mainstream during the e-commerce boom of the early pandemic, when shipping and delivery costs soared and warehouses were bursting at the seams. Companies stopped taking back unwanted t-shirts, pet toys or furniture that would increase costs and add to supply-chain backups.
These days, retailers weigh the cost of the return against the value of the shopper, with big spenders more likely to be eligible, experts said.
Eight of 17 shoppers interviewed by Reuters were told to keep goods purchased on Amazon.com, mostly from outside sellers. Items ranged from low-value goods like underwear and a raincoat to an incorrectly-sized mattress.
Amazon, Shapermint and other retailers battle potential fraud with technology that enables them to extend the service to trusted customers.
“We take fraud very seriously and when bad actors attempt to evade our controls, we take action and work with law enforcement to hold them accountable,” Amazon said.
Some sellers’ anti-fraud efforts have alienated shoppers.
Los Angeles-based photographer Pamela Peters late last summer got a refund for a $300 portable air conditioner that blew hot air – but only after she sent the Amazon seller a picture of the unit with the power cord cut.
“It’s so wasteful,” said Peters, who disposed of the unit before buying a replacement from a different retailer.
Canada's prison investigator, the federal victims' ombudsperson and friends of one of Paul Bernardo's victims are all calling on the federal government to do more to ensure crime victims have the same rights as offenders in the wake of the serial killer and rapist's controversial prison transfer.
Three childhood friends of Kristen French, who was murdered by Bernardo, told the House of Commons standing committee on public safety and security Wednesday night that the corrections system put Bernardo's rights ahead of their own.
Victims and their families were only notified of Bernardo's transfer in May from a maximum- to medium-security prison on the morning it happened.
Tennille Chwalczuk, a friend of French, said Bernardo's transfer filled her with "absolute fear and anguish, and tears and rage."
"We thought, if he stayed in maximum, we might have some sort of peace inside knowing he was where he belongs forever," she said. "And knowing in that moment that it was over ... it was just absolute anguish."
Bernardo is serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing French and Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s. He was also found guilty of the manslaughter and sexual assault of his 15-year-old sister-in-law, Tammy Homolka.
Bernardo arrives at the provincial courthouse in Toronto, on Nov. 3, 1995. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
Bernardo's former wife Karla Homolka served 12 years in prison for her role in his crimes. Bernardo, who is designated as a dangerous offender, has also admitted to sexually assaulting 14 other women.
French's friends say they were forced to relive the trauma of losing her because of Corrections Canada's handling of the transfer.
Demands for change
"One thing was blatantly missing, and that was the careful and real consideration of the impact this transfer would have on these people who have been directly affected by Bernardo's crimes," Laura Murray, one of French's childhood friends, told the committee, which is investigating the transfer.
"We are here to demand the rights of his many victims are considered and respected, now and moving forward."
A review committee appointed by Corrections Canada concluded that while the applicable laws were followed, more could have been done to notify the victims in advance.
WATCH| Questions over Bernardo's transfer:
MPs grill correctional service head over Paul Bernardo transfer
3 days ago
Duration 2:00
Featured VideoMPs grilled the head of Correctional Service Canada, Anne Kelly, over the transfer of serial rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo from maximum- to medium-security prison. Kelly defended the move but said the system is working on a way to improve victims’ services.
Commissioner of Corrections Canada Anne Kelly told the committee on Monday her office seeks a balance between the rights of offenders and victims. She disagrees Bernardo's rights were put first.
But two federal ombudsmen say offenders' rights are upheld more than those of victims.
Ivan Zinger, the federal correctional investigator, pointed out to the committee that his office has a $7.5 million annual budget, while the budget for the office of the ombudsperson for victims of crime, Benjamin Roebuck, is just under $1.5 million.
"There's an imbalance between upholding rights of prisoners and accused versus victims rights," Zinger told CBC News.
Zinger told the committee he wants to see all federal parties endorse a bigger budget, more investigative powers and more independence for Roebuck's office.
In an appearance before the same committee Wednesday night, Roebuck backed Zinger's proposal and said there should be parity between their offices.
"We need supporting legislation and comparable resources," he told MPs. "Currently, the government spends 20 cents on victim complaints for every dollar spent on offender complaints to our respective offices."
WATCH | Victims' families call for change:
Families of Bernardo's victims call for change to prison transfer laws
6 months ago
Duration 2:14
Featured VideoA lawyer representing the families of Paul Bernardo's victims says they weren't given enough notice about the serial killer's transfer from a maximum security prison to a medium security facility. They have joined advocates who say there is a gap in the law that needs to be amended so victims can be consulted in future transfer cases.
Roebuck said that, unlike Zinger, he can't compel evidence from the government and must rely on goodwill "in a lot of cases." He said that leads to reduced transparency.
"We are denied information from federal agencies when we're conducting investigations and we'd like to see that change," Roebuck told CBC News.
Zinger told the committee that a lot of victims' rights aren't really rights at all because victims have no recourse when they're violated.
Roebuck agreed and said the Canadian Victim Bill of Rights "is actually filled with disclaimers of how those rights can't be applied."
"And [it] specifically denies victims of crime the right to challenge in court when their rights haven't been respected, or to appeal based on their rights not being respected," he said.
The government's legislation is also "failing victims of crime" by placing too many restrictions on what information can be released to victims about offenders, Roebuck said.
"It limits information excessively — even upon request — and fails to provide protection and participation in ways that make sense to victims of crime," Roebuck told the committee.
WATCH | Minister's staff knew about transfer months in advance:
Outrage over Paul Bernardo’s transfer to medium security prison
6 months ago
Duration 2:47
Featured VideoCanada’s prison service is now reviewing its decision to move notorious serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo from a maximum-security prison to a medium security facility. The transfer has sparked outrage across Canada’s political landscape. Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the murders of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.
The families of Bernardo's victims are trying to convince the Supreme Court of Canada to give them access to his records so they can prepare "meaningful" victim impact statements, said their lawyer Tim Danson.
For years, the families have been denied copies of documents used during Bernardo's parole hearings due to privacy law.
Roebuck sent a submission to the committee with eight recommendations including the government adopting a "trauma and violence-informed approach" so victims can share their safety concerns without repeatedly having to include traumatic details in victim impact statements.
He also called on the Correctional Service of Canada to speak to victims in advance of prison transfers so they can share any safety concerns. Roebuck said offenders should never be transferred to prisons close to where their victims live without telling them in advance.
Corrections Canada has launched a committee that includes victims of crime. The committee started meeting this month to look for ways to improve services for victims.
Marco Mendicino, who was public safety minister at the time of Bernardo's transfer, also issued a ministerial order requiring that victims be notified before a transfer decision is made.
Sixteen hostages have been released from captivity in Gaza, the Israeli military said, as diplomatic efforts continued to extend the truce further to allow for more exchanges.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said late on Wednesday evening that two hostages with Russian citizenship had crossed into Egypt.
Later on Wednesday night, Israeli military radio said that 10 Israelis and four Thais had been handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza. The group included dual citizens with US, German and German nationality, Qatar said.
The first two hostages released were Yelena Trupanob, 50, and her mother, Irena Tati, a doctor aged 73, both Russian-Israelis who Hamas said had been released outside the framework of the Hamas-Israeli hostage deal, as a “tribute” to Vladimir Putin.
The other 10 Israeli hostages (five women and five children) were freed under a two-day extension to a ceasefire deal agreed last week. Thirty Palestinian prisoners were due to be freed from Israeli jails in return.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement said earlier it had handed over several civilian hostages as part of an exchange deal, an apparent confirmation that not all the estimated 240 hostages seized in the 7 October raid into Israel were being held by Hamas.
Hamas also informed Israeli authorities that three of the hostages had been killed earlier in Israeli bombing of Gaza, naming them as Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two sons: four-year-old Ariel and Kfir, a 10-month-old baby. The IDF said it was investigating the claim about the Bibas family and accused Hamas of behaving in a “cruel and inhuman manner”. There was no independent verification of the claim and previous similar claims have proved unfounded.
The family were being held by a Palestinian faction other than Hamas, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a briefing a few days ago.
Israel said on Wednesday that about 160 hostages are still held in Gaza. Of those, 126 are men and 35 are women. Four are under the age of 18, and 10 over the age of 75.
A total of 60 Israelis have been freed under the truce. Another 21 hostages – 19 Thais, one Filipino and one Russian-Israeli – have been released in separate negotiations since the truce began. Before the ceasefire, Hamas released four hostages, and the Israeli army rescued one, a female soldier. Two others were found dead in Gaza.
So far, 180 Palestinians have been freed from Israeli prisons, following a ration of one-to-three agreed under the deal.
The directors of the CIA and the Mossad, William Burns and David Barnea, have spent a second day in Doha in talks with the Qatari government aimed at stretching the truce further. The Egyptian spy chief, Abbas Kamel, is also reported to be taking part in the discussions. Hamas has reportedly indicated that it is ready for a four-day extension – that would take the pause in fighting through to Monday.
“We are hopeful that within a couple of hours we will have the release of the final batch [of hostages] but also we will be able to announce an extension,” the spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry, Majed Al-Ansari, told CNN. “We are very optimistic that we will have good news to share today.”
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken arrived in Israel early on Thursday, to try to convince the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an extension and to keep up the flow of humanitarian aid across the border from Egypt into Gaza.
“We’ll discuss with Israel how it can achieve its objective of ensuring that the terrorist attacks of 7 October never happen again, while sustaining and increasing humanitarian assistance – and minimising further suffering and casualties among Palestinian civilians,” Blinken told reporters in Brussels.
Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv when tension is rising between the US and Israel over the conduct of the war and a strategic plan for what should come after. Washington has made it clear it does not want to see the blanket bombing of residential districts carried out in northern Gaza repeated in the south, during the next phase of the military campaign.
The two governments are also at odds over who should run Gaza after the war, with Joe Biden advocating Palestinian Authority rule as a step towards the creation of a Palestinian state. Blinken is due to visit Ramallah in the West Bank to talk to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and other leaders, in a show of recognition.
Netanyahu has said Israeli forces would indefinitely retain control over security in Gaza and has reassured his rightwing cabinet that he remains adamantly opposed to an independent Palestine as part of a two-state solution.
The prime minister made clear he had no intention of considering a more lasting ceasefire. “After this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted, will Israel return to fighting? So my answer is an unequivocal yes,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday. “There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end.”
The IDF also said its chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, had “approved the attack plans for the continuation of the campaign”, showing him inspecting maps with his commanders.
“We know what needs to be done, and are ready for the next step,” Halevi said.
In the latest of a series of warnings to the Israelis on the next phase in the Gaza offensive, the head of the US Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, said that Biden was intensely focused on civilian casualties, reminding the IDF “there are no law-free zones in war”.
“President Biden, who has been a kind of humanitarian desk officer from the beginning of this conflict, again, increasing these supplies in – he’s also extremely focused on civilian protection, on the fact that civilians need to be accounted for as this next phase of the military campaign begins … to the need to have spaces in the south like hospitals, like UN shelters, that are zones where civilians can gather and know that they will not suffer bombardment,” Power told CNN.
“And so these are the very, very detailed conversations that are going on. There is receptivity to this message. But again, the planning is key, applying the lessons of the conflict in the north to the conduct of warfare in the south is absolutely critical because, again, civilians must be protected. There are no law-free zones in war.”
There was more violence on the occupied West Bank, with continuing Israeli military raids and large numbers of detentions.
Palestinian officials reported the deaths of two boys, who they said were shot in the northern West Bank town of Jenin by Israeli soldiers. Local journalists said the boys were aged eight and 14.
The Israeli military spokesperson said troops had fired on people who threw explosives at them, but did not specify whether that referred to the boys. The IDF claimed separately it had also killed two adult “terrorist commanders” during the raid on Jenin.
International mediators on Wednesday worked to extend the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas militants to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel's air and ground offensive. The ceasefire will otherwise end within a day.
Hamas freed two Russian-Israeli women, who exited Gaza Wednesday evening, Israel said. The release was expected to be followed by the swap of 10 more hostages in Gaza for 30 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In a social media post, the Office of the Israeli prime minister named the two Russian-Israeli hostages who were freed Wednesday as 50-year-old Yelena Trupanov and 73-year-old Irena Tati.
Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives.
A return to war, eventually?
Hamas fighters took some 240 people hostage during a rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed 1,200 people. Israel's bombardment of Gaza in retaliation has killed more than 15,000 Gazans, according to health authorities in the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored on Wednesday that Israel will resume its campaign to eliminate Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years and orchestrated the deadly attack on Israel that triggered the war.
A Red Cross convoy carrying Israeli hostages heads to Egypt from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. (Hatem Ali/The Associated Press)
"After this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted, will Israel return to fighting?" asked Netanyahu. "My answer is an unequivocal yes. There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end."
He spoke ahead of a visit to the region planned this week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to press for further extensions of the truce and hostage releases.
Weeks of heavy bombardment and a ground invasion demolished vast swaths of Gaza and killed thousands of Palestinians. But it seems to have had little effect on Hamas' rule, evidenced by its ability to conduct complex negotiations, enforce the ceasefire among other armed groups, and orchestrate the release of hostages.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people are now crammed into southern Gaza. The truce has led to a frenzied rush to obtain supplies to feed their families as aid enters in greater, but still insufficient, amounts. Hanging over everyone is the fear that fighting will soon resume.
An Israeli ground invasion of the south will likely bring an escalating cost in Palestinian lives and destruction.
The government of U.S. President Joe Biden has told Israel that if it launches an offensive in the south, it must operate with far greater precision.
"How far both sides will be prepared to go in trading hostages and prisoners for the pause is about to be tested, but the pressures and incentives for both to stick with it are at the moment stronger than the incentives to go back to war," Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The ceasefire is due to end at some point after Wednesday's exchange.
Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt's state information services, said negotiations have made progress and that it is "highly likely" an extension will be announced Wednesday. Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. have led mediation in the original ceasefire and a two-day extension announced Monday.
Ben Hutton and Keegan Kolesar scored in the third period for the Golden Knights (14-5-4), who have lost three straight (0-1-2) and five of six (1-2-3). Logan Thompson made 30 saves.
"You can’t lean on the same guys every night, and we’ve done that well all last year and this year. We are grinding points out,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’d rather have wins and some have not gone our way recently; I think we won three shootouts in our first 12 games, so there’s a bit of a pendulum that swings the other way.”
Hutton cut it to 4-3 at 13:30 of the third with a wrist shot from the edge of the left circle, and Kolesar tied it 4-4 at 17:51 on a redirection of Zach Whitecloud’s shot.
McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the shootout for Edmonton; Jonathan Marchessault shot wide, and Jack Eichel hit the post for Vegas.
“We talked about it in between periods; we needed to come out hard, we were down a couple and we needed to be a little more aggressive and find ways to score, and we did that,” Hutton said. “We were able to get into overtime and a shootout and we were able to get the point, so you have to take the positive out of it.
“The last few games we haven’t had the best record, but I feel like we’re getting our chances. We’re getting a lot of Grade A [chances], but we’re hitting posts or we’re nicking a stick or whatnot. But we’re going to keep grinding and eventually those are going to go in and we’ll be on the winning side.”
Tree farm customers Amy and Ram Nathu and their three kids showed up at Red Truck's tree lot in South Surrey, B.C., ready to pick out the perfect tree to cut down.
They expected to pay about $100 for the tree, but according to Amy, it's worth it. "A real tree is our number one tradition," she said. Their daughter, Roxy, 10, refuses to consider an artificial tree.
"You can smell it, and a fake tree isn't the same. You don't get to cut it or anything," said Roxy.
But this season, the hunt for that perfect tree is becoming a bit more difficult. A dwindling number of growers and a severe shortage of conifers — driven in part by climate change — means tree prices are soaring and sellers are shifting tactics, with some companies abandoning online orders, or ending tree sales altogether.
The Nathu family was on the hunt for the perfect tree to celebrate Christmas at Red Truck Trees on Sunday. (CBC)
Ikea announced it's not selling trees at its Canadian stores this holiday season due to the shortage. Full-grown trees are difficult to source at a competitive price in part because heat events and drought killed seedling and adult trees in the Pacific Northwest.
Canada had about 1,360 tree farms in 2021 compared to 2,381 in 2011, meaning approximately 1,000 farms have vanished in the past decade, according to the most recent data from Statistics Canada.
Shirley Brennan, the executive director of the Canadian Christmas Trees Association, based in Hockley, Ont., says Canada has lost more than 8,000 hectares of Christmas tree farms as growers retire or die, with nobody eager to take over the difficult business.
"The people that go into this are the people that have patience, because it's a labour of love," said Brennan, explaining that because it takes 10 to 14 years for a newly planted tree to be ready to harvest, tree farmers don't see a return on those first trees for more than a decade.
WATCH | The vanishing Christmas Trees:
A perfect Christmas tree is hard to find and getting more expensive
2 days ago
Duration 1:50
Featured VideoCultivated pine trees are getting harder to find and becoming a lot more expensive, which has consumers paying more. Some non-profits say tree sales are becoming a less viable fundraising option.
Climate change a challenge for growers
Larry Whitehead of Red Truck Trees says fewer tree farms and farmers translates into a loss of millions of trees, and climate change isn't making things any easier. Whitehead says B.C. tree growers have never needed to irrigate in the past, but now, with heat waves and droughts, irrigation is crucial, even for some species of mature conifers.
Whitehead, a director with the B.C. Christmas Tree Association and the Canadian Christmas Tree Association, has grown trees for 15 years. He opened tree sales on Nov. 24 at his cut-your-own lot, where he also sells cut trees.
While you can pick up a so-called Charlie Brown tree there for around $20, a two-metre tree with fuller branches will cost anywhere from $80 to $200 at Red Truck (and most other lots), depending on the variety.
Whitehead says the cost of everything from fuel to pesticides is up.
Christmas trees for sale at a Save-On-Foods grocery store in Surrey last Thursday. A dwindling number of growers and a severe shortage of trees — driven in part by climate change — means higher prices for the stock that is available. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Tree shortage hits service clubs hard
The hunt to find reasonably priced trees is driving one North Vancouver non-profit to consider a new fundraiser, though they've relied on tree lot sales for close to 40 Christmas seasons.
"From a fundraising standpoint, trees are number one," said Eric Miura, president of the Lynn Valley Lions Club.
Miura said they were only able to order 600 trees from Washington State this year. Far less than the usual 1,200 to 1,600 Noble Fir trees on their tree lot, which is canopied by massive rooted fir.
"Apparently, there's quite a bit of dead loss," said Miura. "And stock is dwindling."
Intense heat events in the summer turn more mature evergreens brown before they can be harvested, he says, noting smaller seedlings can't survive the high temperatures.
"So we end up with a very small stock of trees to pull from."
Eric Miura, president of the Lynn Valley Lions Club, says his service club could only source 600 trees for their annual fundraising tree lot this year, when they usually sell more than double that number. To make up for the shortage, they're creating crafts to sell instead. (Andrew Lee/CBC)
With so few trees to sell, the Lions Club cancelled online sales and delivery this year.
"We're really disappointed," said Miura.
With the lack of tree sales meaning a potential $30,000 loss in fundraising revenue, he says the club is getting creative and coming up with crafts to sell instead.
Miura hauled in alder, aspen and birch that was removed from his property to keep it fire safe, getting young members making everything from candle holders to rustic log reindeer decorations.
Next season, he says they may shift away from tree sales entirely for their annual fundraiser that supports Lions Club youth, housing and health programs.
Braydon Chapelas, a communication and marketing specialist for Aunt Leah's Place tree lot in Vancouver, says the tree lots are well stocked, but this year trees will cost more.
His organization works to support youth transitioning from foster care. In order to make a profit, Chapelas says they've had to continue to raise prices.
Braydon Chapelas of Aunt Leah’s Place, says their tree lots are well stocked this season, but prices may be steeper. (Dillon Hodgin/CBC )
"And for the most part, we're just having to pass that cost off to the customer."
Aunt Leah's hopes to put 5,000 trees in people's homes this season, and Chapelas says they're trying not to raise prices too high.
"But with the current economy and our current pricing from tree suppliers, we have to do what we have to do."
More U.S. trees being planted
U.S. tree growers say the situation should improve.
Jill Sidebottom, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Christmas Tree Association, says some of today's shortage relates to a downturn in planting back in 2008, as well as the loss of mature trees during the 2021 heat dome over the Pacific Northwest.
But she says more fir trees are taking root, with growers upping their planting.
"So, hopefully they'll increase their production in the next few years."
Though Save-On-Foods in Surrey had Christmas trees for sale this Thursday, some companies are ending tree sales altogether. Ikea announced it wouldn't be selling trees this year due to the shortage. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
The 2024 Toyota Tacoma SR5.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The all-new Toyota Tacoma was revealed earlier this summer, with the numerous trim levels that befit any pickup truck. I finally got to drive most of them here in California but not the much-anticipated hybrids. Those won’t be introduced for several months yet.
This is the fourth generation of Toyota’s popular mid-sized pickup truck, and it’s been at least eight years since any major revisions were made. This time around, for all Canadian models, the new truck has rear coil spring suspension instead of the old leaf springs, with standard rear disc brakes. It’s also turbocharged with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, replacing the 3.5-litre V6 the Tacoma was known for.
There will be eight grades of the nonhybrid truck, ranging from the SR5 that has a starting price of $46,950 to the TRD Off-Road Premium at $58,350. That’s a sizable bump from the least expensive current Tacoma, which has a starting price of $41,350. All these trucks will have additional costs of about $3,284 to cover Freight, predelivery inspection and “dealer fees,” among others, before tax.
The new models are turbocharged with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, replacing the 3.5-litre V6 the Tacoma was known for.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
(The hybrid trucks will presumably be more expensive. Their i-ForceMax engines will be the most powerful of all the mid-sized truck competition.)
The new Tacoma makes the same power as the old Tacoma it’s replacing, at 278 horsepower (or 270 horsepower for the manual transmission), but the engine’s torque is increased significantly. It now creates 317 lb-ft for the automatic, compared to 265 for the older truck.
I began my day in the basic SR5 Tacoma and spent time driving four other grades. With each truck, I was impressed by the usefulness of the cabin, though these were pre-production units and their plastic trim was often unfinished and shiny.
All the new Tacomas come with standard double cabs – there’s no longer a smaller access cab offered – and all of them are all-wheel drive. Larger cabs may be offered later, but Toyota’s not talking much about those. They’re all built on the new TNGA-F platform, with its body-on-frame multi-link rear suspension, and they’re slightly larger than before: the wheelbase is increased by 115 millimetres and the cab height is raised by 30 millimetres.
The new Tacoma has a shallower front grille and generally wider stance with LED headlights high against the hood.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
2024 Toyota Tacoma
Base price: $46,950 – $58,350, plus $3,284.50 in fees, plus taxes
Engine: 2.4-litre turbocharged inline-four
Transmission/Drive: 8-speed automatic or 6-speed manual / All-wheel drive
Fuel economy (litres per 100 kilometres): 11.2 combined
Alternatives: Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier
Looks
There’s no mistaking the new Tacoma for its older generation. It has a shallower front grille and generally wider stance with LED headlights high against the hood. Toyota likes to call it a “badass adventure machine” and while it’s hardly Mad Max, it certainly looks like it can handle most anything. The large plastic spoiler at the front is there to reduce fuel consumption; it seems as if it’ll crack as soon as it hits a rock, but fortunately, it removes fairly easily.
The basic SR5 has a small seven-inch central display screen, but a large 14-inch horizontal screen is either an option or standard in the more expensive trims.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The cabin is comfortable and practical, and was a pleasant place to be out of the cold California rain. The front seats are heated as standard in all grades, and there are enough grab handles for everyone’s security when the truck goes off road. The basic SR5 has a small seven-inch central display screen, but a large 14-inch horizontal screen is either an option or standard in the more expensive trims. The clever JBL audio system with its removable central speaker is an option, and it will even compensate for the altered sound in the cabin when that speaker is inevitably lost.
Performance
On the road, the Tacoma was sure-footed in the California canyons, but like any body-on-frame truck, it’s not a vehicle to throw too confidently around the tight curves – just drive sensibly and there’ll be no surprises. I didn’t try towing anything, but the Tacoma is rated for a capacity of 6,500 pounds (2,948 kilograms) and a maximum payload of more than 1,700 pounds (771 kilograms), though not for all the grades. Tow hitch and backing-up assistance is available through the central display screen.
Off the road, the Tacoma excelled before Toyota closed the muddy course for being too slippery in the rain. I was just as happy – some of the hill trails dropped far down into the valleys. The TRD truck handled steep slopes and huge holes easily, owing to updated Bilstein shocks and the ability to disconnect the sway bar with the press of a button, for much greater wheel articulation. The front approach angle is a tall 34.4 degrees with departure angles of 26.1 degrees, though you’ll need to remove that plastic spoiler first.
I drove the automatic as well as the manual shifting transmission and found both rewarding and easy to use off road. The manual uses a clever “clutch-start cancel” system to override the clutch pedal in low gear ratios. If you prefer a stick shift, you’ll love the Tacoma’s transmission.
Technology
The Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 system is much more advanced than the TSS-P system on the previous generation. It works well and is instinctive to use. It includes all the assistance you’ll find in other new Toyotas (and Lexuses), such as full-speed-range dynamic radar cruise control, and curve speed management if you’re a little hot going into a corner, with over-the-air updates. There’s also a backup camera that now detects pedestrians, for safer driving in the mall parking lot.
The truck bed is available in either five-foot or six-foot lengths.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
There’s not a lot of space in the second row of the double cab, but the seats fold to create a flat surface. There’s also three times as much storage space under the rear seats as before. The truck bed is available in either five-foot or six-foot lengths, and Toyota says it has 8-per-cent greater capacity than before.
The verdict
The Tacoma has an excellent reputation for reliability and practicality, and as such, it will hold its value for years. This new generation has taken nothing away and only improved on the truck and that reputation will easily remain intact.
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.
Shopping for a new car? Check out the newGlobe Drive Build and PriceTool to see the latest discounts, rebates and rates on new cars, trucks and SUVs.Click hereto get your price.
When the Center for Reproductive Rights first announced the lawsuit against Texas in March, there were five patient plaintiffs. Now there are 20. Sarah McCammon/NPR
Sarah McCammon/NPR
On Tuesday, the Texas Supreme Court will consider this question: Are the state's abortion laws harming women when they face pregnancy complications?
The case, brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, has grown to include 22 plaintiffs, including 20 patients and two physicians. They are suing Texas, arguing that the medical exceptions in the state's abortion bans are too narrow to protect patients with complicated pregnancies. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is fiercely defending the state's current abortion laws and arguing that the case should be dismissed.
At a hearing in Austin on Tuesday, the nine Texas Supreme Court justices will consider whether to apply a temporary injunction that a lower court judge ruled should be in place. That injunction would give doctors greater discretion to perform abortions when a doctor determines that a woman's health is threatened or that a fetus has a condition that could be fatal. It would make more people eligible for exceptions to Texas's abortion bans, but it would not overturn those laws.
Dr. Dani Mathisen, 28, is one of seven new plaintiffs who joined the case earlier this month. She is in her medical residency as an OB-GYN and comes from a family of physicians, so when she was pregnant in 2021 and getting a detailed ultrasound test at 18 weeks gestation, she knew something was very wrong.
Mathisen was watching the monitor as the sonogram technician did the anatomy scan. She saw something was wrong with the spine of the fetus, then the heart, then kidneys. She asked, "Can you show me that again?" But the sonographer said she would have to wait to talk to the doctor, who was actually Mathisen's aunt.
When she and her doctor spoke after the scan, "I think I asked one question," Mathisen recalls. "I said, 'Is it lethal?' And she said yes."
Mathisen and her husband had been looking forward to becoming parents, but now she knew she wanted an abortion and would have to travel outside of Texas to get it.
Dr. Dani Mathisen and her husband were happy about their pregnancy in 2021, before they got a devastating diagnosis. Dani Mathisen
Dani Mathisen
This was in September 2021 before the federal high court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion for the whole country, but after the Texas law known as SB 8 went into effect. SB 8 banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and says anyone helping someone get an abortion can be sued. Doctors can lose their medical licenses.
Mathisen says she didn't know where to start with calling clinics out of state and figuring out flights, rental cars and hotels. Her mother is also a doctor, and she took charge.
"My mom was just like, 'Take a Xanax, I will have it figured out when you wake up,'" Mathisen says.
Mathisen's mother made arrangements for her to have the procedure in New Mexico. That is not technically illegal under Texas law (although some counties are trying to ban traveling through them for abortions.) But Mathisen remained worried, knowing that SB 8 aims at people who help patients get abortions. It's sometimes called "the bounty hunter law."
"There was this tiny goblin in the back of my head going, 'Your mom's going to go to jail for this,'" Mathisen says.
Mathisen was able to go to New Mexico for an abortion. Some of the other plaintiffs were not able to travel. Two developed sepsis while waiting for Texas hospitals to approve abortion procedures. One had such severe blood clotting, her limbs began to turn purple, then black.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has not responded to multiple requests from NPR for comment on the new plaintiffs, but in filings, lawyers for the state argue that these women were not harmed by the state's abortion laws. They say the law is clear, the exception is sufficient as is, and suggest that doctors were responsible for any harms the patients claim.
On Tuesday, lawyers for the state of Texas and for the Center for Reproductive Rights are both expected to argue before all nine justices of the Texas Supreme Court. The body is made up of elected judges who serve staggered six-year terms; they are all Republicans. Some have been on the state's highest court for more than a decade; some are recently elected. No decision is expected Tuesday, but there are a few possible outcomes, court watchers say.
They could uphold the lower court's injunction until the case can be fully heard in April. This would broaden the medical exception to abortion bans in Texas at least until the spring.
They could leave the status quo in place – with a narrow medical exception – and say the case should be heard in full in April.
They could leave the status quo in place, letting the narrow exceptions to the laws stand, and signal that they believe Texas will win on the merits, likely prompting a motion to dismiss the case in the lower court.
This case has grown over the course of 2023. In March, there were five patients and two OB-GYNs who were the plaintiffs in this case; in May, there were 13 patients, and now, in November, there are 20 patients suing Texas over its abortion exception.
Mathisen says joining the lawsuit is important to her: "I don't just have a sad story, but I'm doing something with that sad story."
