Manitoba businesses that aren’t adhering to COVID-19 public health orders continue to get fined by the province, including some repeat offenders this week.
The owners of Monstrosity Burger and Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant — who have been vocally opposed to the orders — were slapped with four more $5,000 tickets, according to the province’s latest enforcement report.
That makes a dozen such fines over the past three weeks for the Corydon Avenue eateries, whose owners have described the restrictions as tantamount to “fascism” and “tyranny” in social media posts.
A crowdfunding account aimed at helping the businesses pay the mounting fines was sitting at just under $5,400 on Thursday morning.
Other businesses ticketed include Chaise Cafe and Lounge — another Corydon Avenue restaurant that stirred up controversy earlier in the pandemic for violations of social distancing restrictions.
Chaise was dinged for three $5,000 tickets this week.
Two MORFIT Training Centres in Winnipeg also received a combined total of three $5,000 tickets.
Bong Traders Paraphernalia Co. on Main Street was handed a $1,296 fine.
In Winkler, Del Rios Family Restaurant, the Iceburg Drive-In, and Twister’s Burgers Fries & Malts were each tagged with the same fine.
Steinbach businesses Great Canadian Oil Change ($5,000) and Retro Chique ($1,296) made this week’s list of scofflaws as well.
Tuxedo restaurants hit with COVID-19 fines
Tuxedo restaurants hit with COVID-19 fines – Sep 22, 2021
Some family physicians in Alberta say they are dealing with an increasing number of aggressive, misinformed and untrusting patients who want a note exempting them from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Two of three Calgary doctors who spoke to The Canadian Press also said some people have yelled racist comments at them after they declined to write a note because the patients did not have health conditions known to cause serious side-effects to a shot.
"They mostly comment on my brown skin and hijab," said Dr. Sakina Raj. "I'm also Muslim ... so they come to religion and they get personal with that.
"It's really scary because I feel sometimes they were so abusive verbally, that they could harm us. But I still am kind to them. I calm them down nicely. I'm too experienced to be stressed by them."
Raj said since Premier Jason Kenney announced a proof of vaccination program to try to turn back a crippling fourth wave in the province, safety has become such a concern that Sehet Medical Clinic is now dealing with new patients wanting an exemption only on the phone.
Raj and another Calgary physician said more than three patients a day are asking their clinics for an exemption. Dr. Mukarram Zaidi said one patient tried to bribe him with $200.
"He comes and says that he would like to have a note and he will be compensating for that," Zaidi said.
When Zaidi declined, the patient became aggressive and began talking to him louder about ethics, he said.
Zaidi said few people are eligible for an exemption. They include anyone diagnosed with myocarditis or pericarditis — inflammation of the heart or its membrane — or someone who has a confirmed anaphylactic allergy to an ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine.
This particular patient did not meet those criteria.
"I was really upset with it," Zaidi said.
Doctor thought about calling police
Raj said she has thought about calling police during a few consultations.
"Before, there were individuals coming in without a mask, kind of arguing, but this vaccine proof has brought it to another level," Zaidi said.
Zaidi and Raj said racist comments and an aggressive tone are regular occurrences these days, but they don't want to focus on that. What's most concerning to them is that misinformed patients are walking into their clinics.
Some patients tell stories about family members in other countries having outlandish reactions to the vaccine. Others say their religious leader has told them not to get a shot. Zaidi said some patients don't want to hear any scientific information at all.
"What boggles me is that they come in, trust me for everything else besides COVID. They allow me to examine them for everything else. It frustrates me to understand the mentality of these individuals."
If patients are worried about having an allergic reaction, the doctors direct them to take an allergy test, which some patients decline to do.
Misinformation frustrating
Dr. Memoona Butt, another Calgary physician, said she gets most frustrated with patients who read information about the virus from unverified sources.
"Some people are saying that they don't want any foreign particle or any chemical injected into their body. A number of patients are also worried that we are putting some chips in their system," Butt said.
The three doctors said colleagues across the province have successfully persuaded the vaccine-hesitant to get their shots by walking them through what's involved and addressing their concerns.
"I also tell them that Canada's independent drug authorization ... has high standards and a rigorous review process," Butt said.
Raj said she worries about her patients who don't want to be vaccinated.
"Some of them are smokers, or have underlying lung conditions, or they're diabetic. If they catch COVID, they might end up in [an intensive care unit]."
She said her clinic has been calling patients to educate them on why they need to get their shots.
"We have seen how interactions with patients on this topic may become emotional and difficult," the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta wrote in a statement to doctors.
The college, which regulates the practice of medicine in the province, says doctors can ask patients to leave if they become abusive.
"You and your team are not expected to tolerate this type of behaviour," the statement says.
Raj said the best advice she gives to her patients is to keep an open mind.
The Chiefs of three of the largest rural First Nations communities in New Brunswick are calling for the government to launch an investigation into the province's Indian day schools.
Arren Sock, the chief of Elsipogtog First Nation, Alvery Paul, chief of Esgenoopetitj and Ross Perley, chief of Neqotkuk First Nation, head the Mawiw Council, which represents their communities' joint interests.
They want the government of New Brunswick to take concrete actions to "show First Nations people that their past abuse will not be forgotten and won't be left uncorrected."
"It is imperative to recognize the injustices of the past. As a people, we need healing and forward thinking. Uncovering hidden history is a first step that cannot be taken lightly. The First Nations peoples of New Brunswick deserve the truth," said chief of the Esgenoopetitj First Nation Alvery Paul.
The Council said significant Indigenous involvement and oversight is required if an investigation were to take place.
An investigation would also include research into past settlers' family history, as many children were sent to live with settlers in the area.
The call comes one day before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sep. 30, the first time a federal statutory holiday has been dedicated in memory of the lost Indigenous children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.
The three First Nations join the The Wolastoqey Nation in calling for a government investigation and a ground-penetrating radar survey of Indian day school properties, particularly the former Sussex Indian School. along with the Shubenacadie residential school in Nova Scotia, as many Indigenous people from New Brunswick were sent there.
History of Indian day schools
In the 18th century, the government introduced "Indian Schools," established to isolate Indigenous children from their families, language and culture.
Early schools pushed a religious message on Indigenous children, who received little in the way of a promised education and were ultimately forced to work as unpaid labourers and domestic servants for the settlers they lived with.
The Sussex Indian Academy in Sussex Vale, which opened in the late-1780s, had the same goals of assimilation into colonial culture that existed in residential schools. The school closed in the late-1820s.
After Confederation in 1867, the federal government funded 12 day schools for Indigenous children that were run by churches. The last one to close was in Metepenagiag in 1992.
Following up on government promises
In June, Premier Blaine Higgs and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Arlene Dunn made a vague commitment to "get to the bottom" of what happened at government-run schools for Indigenous children in New Brunswick.
These comments were made after the news that the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation found the possible graves of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
The discovery of more than 200 possible graves found recently at the residential school site in Kamloops, B.C. has led to calls for investigations at former school sites across the country. (Gary Moore/CBC)
"We will investigate each and every one of these located in New Brunswick," said Higgs during a message of condolences in the legislature.
On 'Resilience Day' in Fredericton in July, Dunn said the government was working to rectify the harm that institutions have caused Indigenous peoples.
At the time, she said government officials had met with Wolastoqey Nation chiefs to discuss an investigation into day schools in the province. It is unclear what progress has been made since then.
Frustration over N.B. decision
New Brunswick is one of multiple provinces that have chosen not to observe National Day of Truth and Reconciliation as a provincial holiday, choosing to keep schools and government institutions open.
The new holiday is one of 94 calls to action in the 2015 Calls to Action report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
The Mawiw Council wrote to the province last week, calling for a reverse in the decision to not mark Sept. 30th as a holiday.
In response, Higgs said during the Sep. 29 COVID-19 update that the government is moving reconciliation forward in other ways, such as bringing First Nations history into school curriculum and establishing a systemic racism commissioner.
"I'm disappointed if it's seen as a slight in any way, because having more people take a day off is not necessarily going to encourage [them to] learn more about the challenges we're facing together in our country, and how we can manage them together."
With the call for the official commemoration of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation rejected, the Mawiw Council Indigenous leaders said they are concerned about the state of relations with the provincial government.
"We see the decision as a missed opportunity to repair damaged relations between Indigenous people in the province and the provincial government," said Ross Perley. "We believe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is important to the Truth and Reconciliation process and not recognizing it as a statutory holiday diminishes the importance of that process."
The Council said it hopes the government will investigate day schools as an actionable way to continue forward with reconciliation.
"We need to learn from our past mistakes as a society and do whatever is in our power to make sure that we do not forget," said Arren Sock.
A battle between gangs in a prison killed at least 116 people and injured 80 in what authorities are calling the worst penitentiary massacre in Ecuador's history.
President Guillermo Lasso decreed a state of emergency in Ecuador's prison system, allowing the government to deploy the police and soldiers to penitentiaries among other powers. Authorities attributed Tuesday's bloodshed at the Litoral penitentiary in the coastal city of Guayaquil to gangs linked to international drug cartels fighting for control of the lockup.
At least five dead were reported beheaded, officials said Wednesday.
Lasso, visibly affected, said at a news conference that what was happening in the Guayaquil prison was "bad and sad" and he could not, for the moment, guarantee that authorities had regained control of the lockup.
"It is regrettable that the prisons are being turned into territories for power disputes by criminal gangs," he said, adding that he would act with "absolute firmness" to regain control of the Litoral prison and prevent the violence from spreading to other penitentiaries.
Images circulating on social media showed dozens of bodies in the prison's Pavilions 9 and 10 and scenes that looked like battlefields. The fighting was with firearms, knives and bombs, officials said. Earlier, regional police commander Fausto Buenano had said that bodies were being found in the prison's pipelines.
Relatives of prisoners await news outside the prison. At least 116 people died in the riot. (Angel DeJesus/The Associated Press)
Outside the prison morgue, the relatives of inmates wept, with some describing to reporters the cruelty with which their loved ones were killed.
"In the history of the country, there has not been an incident similar or close to this one," said Ledy Zuniga, the former president of Ecuador's National Rehabilitation Council.
Zuniga, who was also the country's minister of justice, said she regretted that steps had not been taken to prevent another massacre following deadly prison riots last February.
Violence blamed on prison gangs
Earlier, officials said the violence erupted from a dispute between the "Los Lobos" and "Los Choneros" prison gangs.
Col. Mario Pazmino, the former director of Ecuador's military intelligence, said the bloody fighting shows that "transnational organized crime has permeated the structure" of Ecuador's prisons, adding that Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels operate through local gangs.
"They want to sow fear," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday, urging the government to temporarily cede control of the prisons to the National Police.
Ecuador's president said that care points had been set up for relatives of the inmates with food and psychological support. He added that a $24-million program to address the country's prisons will be accelerated, starting with investments in infrastructure and technology in the Litoral prison.
The former director of Ecuador's prison bureau, Fausto Cobo, said that inside penitentiaries authorities face a "threat with power equal to or greater than the state itself." He said that while security forces must enter prisons with shields and unarmed, they are met by inmates with high-caliber weapons.
In July, the president decreed another state of emergency in Ecuador's prison system following several violent episodes that resulted in more than 100 inmates being killed. Those deaths occurred in various prisons and not in a single facility like Tuesday's massacre.
Previously, the bloodiest day occurred in February, when 79 prisoners died in simultaneous riots in three prisons in the country. In July, 22 more prisoners lost their lives in the Litoral penitentiary, while in September a penitentiary centre was attacked by drones, leaving no fatalities.
A StrongerBC program that refunds businesses the PST paid on select machinery and equipment will be extended for an additional six months.
This extension will give businesses another chance to reduce costs and make new investments to adapt to the changes the pandemic has required, and to set them up to take advantage of future opportunities.
“When we consulted with the business community on our StrongerBC Economic Recovery Plan, they told us a PST rebate would help them make the kind of capital investments that would not just be about short-term recovery, but also long-term growth,” said Selina Robinson. “As the program deadline approaches, we see there is still a need, so we are extending the program to give more businesses time to apply.”
Businesses will have until March 31, 2022 – an additional six months – to purchase qualifying items like tools, furniture, computers, software and zero-emission vehicles and charging equipment.
Little Falls Foods in Okanagan Falls is one of thousands of B.C. businesses that have already benefited from the program. Dahlia Millington and her husband Derek opened the business this summer after the community of 2,500 had gone without a grocery store for years.
“This rebate helped us set up our business,” said Millington. “We were able to get the PST back on everything from our refrigeration equipment to the computers we use to monitor our inventory. That money, in turn, has helped us get food to seniors, to keep staff employed and continued to keep our community fed. This extra little bit really helps.”
Almost 2,000 businesses have received millions in rebates on more than $100 million in qualifying equipment and machinery so far, with most applications still expected in the coming months.
Most applicants are small and medium-sized businesses. The construction industry is the largest recipient by sector, followed by the transportation and retail sectors.
“This is not just about COVID recovery. It's also about setting up B.C. for success and growth in the future. Little Falls Foods is a great example of that. The rebate is supporting a new business and a keystone service in the community at the same time,” said Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen.
Quick Facts:
This funding is part of B.C.’s $10-billion COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
An estimated 110,000 incorporated B.C. businesses are eligible for the rebate.
Rebate eligibility is based on the Capital Cost Allowance classes used under the federal income tax system.
The PST savings on a new zero-emission vehicle can be more than $3,000.
TikTok is expanding its investment in e-commerce. Earlier this year, the video platform began piloting TikTok Shopping in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, in partnership with Shopify. The deal allowed Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account to add a Shopping tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to the app to create mini-storefronts. Now, TikTok is announcing a slate of new brand partners for TikTok Shopping, including Square, Ecwid and PrestaShop, with Wix, SHOPLINE, OpenCart and BASE coming soon. It also introduced a fuller slate of solutions for TikTok commerce, including ad products and later this year, a TikTok Shopping API.
The company detailed its further plans for TikTok Shopping at an online event called TikTok World on Tuesday.
Here, TikTok shared how popular commerce had become on its platform. For example, it noted that the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag — which users post when sharing products they had discovered through TikTok videos — has grown to include 4.6 billion views and is still climbing. The company also touted how well its video could push users from product awareness to action, claiming that, compared with competitors, TikTok users are 1.7 times more likely to have purchased products through the app, citing a survey conducted by Material in August 2021.
Image Credits: TikTok Shopping
The company said it’s able to work with online merchants in a couple of different ways. One is a direct integration and full-service shopping solution where TikTok manages everything from shipping to fulfillment and point-of-purchase. This is a system TikTok has been testing in Indonesia, as TechCrunch previously reported. It’s also now available in the U.K.
The second way involves working with third-party commerce partners, like Shopify, who can provide sellers with essential backend tools and support.
Later this year, TikTok said it would also launch a TikTok Shopping API, which will allow businesses to integrate their product catalogs directly into TikTok, and eventually include those products in their organic content.
Image Credits: TikTok Shopping
In the meantime, TikTok will offer businesses a handful of other tools to get their products in front of consumers.
With Product Links, first introduced alongside the TikTok Shopping pilot, brands can highlight one or more products directly from an organic TikTok video, which then points users to product detail pages on their own website. This is essentially TikTok’s version of something like Instagram’s product tags and stickers.
With the new LIVE shopping feature, brands on TikTok can connect with users in the community in real time, and share dynamic links to products and services while the content is streaming live. In the past, Walmart hosted a couple of LIVE shopping events as a pilot partner on the feature.
The company also now offers a trio of in-feed ad products for online shopping: Collection Ads, Dynamic Showcase Ads (DSAs), and Lead Generation.
Image Credits: TikTok (Collection Ad)
Collection Ads are a new ad product that allows brands to include custom, swipeable product cards in their in-feed videos. Each card can feature a different product for sale and, when tapped, brings users to a fast-loading instant gallery page where TikTok users can browse items and make a purchase. This type of ad can be used to drive traffic to a merchant’s website, and can be particularly useful for things like limited-time deals, seasonal sales and recent launches. TikTok cited one case study with a brand called Princess Polly which saw a 6x return on ad spend and an over 50% increase on overall product page visits with the ad.
Dynamic Showcase Ads are another new product, and allow brands to promote thousands (or even millions) of product SKUs via personalized video ads. DSA will generate video ads that target specific audiences based on their interests and commerce activities, such as adding items to a cart or viewing a product. TikTok has created a suite of DSA templates that follow the platform’s creative principles of offering creative clips with music and text overlays. TikTok claims early DSA tests indicate the templates are driving higher click-through rates and conversion rates for advertisers but didn’t share metrics. On this effort, it’s partnered with video marketing company SHAKR, plus Productsup and feedonomics which can help integrate product catalogs.
Image Credits: TikTok (DSA)
Lead Generation, meanwhile, continues to be available within in-feed video ads offering brands an easy way to collect information from TikTok users through online forms. These ads are best for businesses that have longer sales cycles, like audio and education. It has also partnered with Zapier and LeadsBridge to automatically connect a brand’s CRM to TikTok for a lead-generation campaign. In a test with Southeast Asian marketplace Lazada, nearly half of the users who signed up on a form during the first week of a lead-gen campaign ended up selling on the marketplace, TikTok says.
Image Credits: Lazada on TikTok
Combined, this suite of solutions is what makes up TikTok Shopping.
“The future of commerce on TikTok is a shopping experience that allows brands of all sizes to tap into the enthusiasm of our user base,” said TikTok Shopping Head of Product Javier Irigoyen. “The magic of TikTok happens in the For You page, where e-commerce content is recommended to our users in the same way as short videos and live streams. TikTok is a place where users and brands can connect directly, and where an end-to-end shopping experience can happen organically. That’s the basis on which we’re building a long-term commerce division,” he said.
Jonathan Toews will to play for the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time in more than a year in a preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN [joined in progress], NBCSCH+).
The 33-year-old captain missed last season with chronic immune response syndrome. He has participated in all five days the Blackhawks have held training camp this month, including a three-period scrimmage (15 minutes each period) Tuesday.
"We want to get everyone in," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "He's one of them, so it'll be obviously a step up in just the load, playing a real game and intensity. So we'll see."
Toews has not played since Aug. 18, 2020, in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round when he scored one goal in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights that eliminated the Blackhawks from the best-of-7 series. He is projected to be the center on a line with Dominik Kubalik at left wing and Philipp Kurashev at right wing.
"It's just been great to have him back, first of all," Colliton said. "He's worked extremely hard to get himself ready and that process is ongoing. But he means a lot, just his presence to the team and leadership in the room. And he's a pretty good player too, so we want to get him back to as high a level as we can. But we're going to be patient and tonight will be good to see him out there."
Toews said Sept. 23 he hopes to play in Chicago's regular-season opener at the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 13.
"That's my goal," Toews said, "but I think I just have to keep being patient, and I think there are things you can learn as far as how I approach the game when you're not firing on all cylinders, and the conditioning is not quite there yet. So I'm just chipping away at that and getting back into watching video and thinking the game. That's my plan. I'd love to [play in the opener], but the focus is on tomorrow for now."
Toews scored 60 points (18 goals, 42 assists) in 70 regular-season games and nine points (five goals, four assists) in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2019-20.
The No. 3 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft, Toews has scored 815 points (345 goals, 470 assists) in 943 regular-season games and 119 points (45 goals, 74 assists) in 137 postseason games. He helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. In 2010, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy voted the most valuable player in the playoffs after scoring 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists) in 22 games.
Blackhawks forward Alex Nylander will also play for the first itme since Game 4 against the Golden Knights. He had surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee Dec. 21.
