The blog and book have gained support from around the world Stalen Venator was just 21 months old when diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He’s now a seven-year-old in Oromocto whose favourite hobby is to make others laugh. Stalen, who doesn’t speak, has used an IPad to communicate his jokes on Facebook each week for the last two years. Recently, he and his mother published a joke book, titled Jokes are for Everyone, to spread awareness about his condition and share his favourite puns. “My hope is that people will realizeRead more

Households will be eligible for up to $5K up front rather seeking reimbursement The federal government has announced details of a new grant aimed at helping low- to median-income Canadian households make the switch from oil to heat pumps. The Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) Grant will provide households with up to $5,000 — depending on the household income — to cover costs that include the purchase and installation of heat pumps, necessary electrical upgrades and safe removal of the oil tank. Households may be eligible if they have an income at or below the median household after-taxRead more

Computers, phones, medical equipment stopped working during almost 20-hour outage Emergency room doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals who worked through the night during a major, hospital-wide computer and phone outage in Ottawa were “sticking their necks out” in an “exceptionally unsafe” environment, according to documents obtained by CBC News. Inaccessible medical records, inoperable equipment, defective backup phones and pagers, and poor communication from administrators plagued the Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) for nearly 20 hours in early September when a “code grey” was declared, internal records obtained through a FreedomRead more

To balance the books, Canadian cities make like Europe where going car-free is easy Canadians pondering their household finances know that there are always more ideas about how to spend money than there is money to spend. That universal economic principle was conspicuous at COP27, the latest version of the United Nations conference on climate change that went into overtime this weekend in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. A long list of competing demands for that cash included compensation for climate damage, biodiversity loss and winding down the use of fossil fuels. As governments at all levels consider the wisestRead more

McCallum was accused of falsely accusing a political opponent of running over his foot A provincial court judge has found Doug McCallum, the former mayor of Surrey, B.C., not guilty of public mischief. The 78-year-old was accused of lying to police in September 2021 by falsely accusing a political opponent of deliberately running over his foot after she confronted him in a supermarket parking lot. In his decision, Judge Reginald Harris said he believed the medical and physical evidence proved that Debi Johnstone ran over McCallum’s foot. He also found that errors in McCallum’s statement wereRead more