Hard wind a-blowin’

Concern about the coming (current?) recession seems to be intensifying: The federal government says it will allow Canadians who are facing hardships to withdraw up to $22,450 a year from their locked-in Registered Retirement Savings Plans.

Nickel and dimed

Here’s a banking product you really don’t need: With the Bank the Rest savings program, Canadians using their ScotiaCard to make debit card purchases can choose to round up the total purchase amount to the nearest dollar or five dollars, and have the difference deposited automatically into their Scotiabank Money Master High Interest Savings accountcontinue reading

My new title

From a press release for a media event sponsored by La Senza, Hellmann’s and Tide: Jane is 34 and she’s a mover-and-shaker at work. At home, think of her as the Chief Household Officer. This also makes her Manager of Nutrition, Investment Advisor, Family Trip Planning Counsel and Director of Hockey Equipment Delivery. And that’scontinue reading

The tyranny of fake politeness

Sunday morning, Museum station. Stairs are under repair. An elderly couple stand on the one escalator, and move sharply over to the right side to allow others to pass on the left. A young woman begins to pass on the left, then hesitates, as she realizes (to her apparent horror) that the fabric of thecontinue reading

Bears!

If you have any colleagues who are recent immigrants to Canada, and if you’ve ever mentioned to them that you like to go camping, you’ll undoubtedly be aware that Canada has a bizarre international reputation as a giant frozen wasteland covered with ravening bears which will tear you limb from limb at the least opportunity.continue reading

It’s called a toll

It’s been a good year for skiers all over North America this year, with record snowfall from east to west. But that also means more cars on highways to ski resorts, including the highway leading to the hills from Denver: Interstate 70, the east-west corridor to the high-country ski resorts, bottlenecks to four lanes fromcontinue reading

The Antagonistic East

Local labour relations not rancourous enough for you? Look east to Fredericton and the St. Thomas University “strikeout”. A faculty strike is now in its third week — but that strike came after the faculty was locked out by the administration December 27. What’s at stake? Well, hard to say at this point, since thecontinue reading

And now, the weather

I’m not sure how Environment Canada’s new five-day local weather page is supposed to be an improvement on its predecessor. The graphic design is a bit cleaner, but a) the user now has to mouseover for text information which was directly posted on the page before, and b) the icon for flurries and ‘periods ofcontinue reading