September 2024

By the staff The Canadian Press Published on September 8, 2024 at 3:15 p.m. Updated September 8, 2024 at 3:18 p.m. 1 min read Reduce the font size of the article Increase the font size of the article THE Quebec Bloc says he is ready to negotiate with the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau party to gain support in confidence votes now that the Liberal government’s confidence and credit agreement with the NDP has ended. And the sovereignist party led by Yves-François Blanchet has already drawn up a list of demands. In an interview ahead of the party’s caucus retreat scheduled for Monday in the Outaouais region, Bloc parliamentary leader Alain Therrien said his party is happy to regain the balance of power. 2:03 NDP says election ‘more likely’ after Liberal deal ends Current trend The Montreal melon, which was thought to have almost disappeared, is making a long-awaited comeback Conservatives call on government to reveal how latest ISIS suspect arrived in Canada He called the situation a “window of opportunity” now that the Liberals are truly a minority government. The story continues below the advertisement New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh’s decision to withdraw from the confidence and supply agreement last week leaves an opening for the Bloc, the party says. While Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives have promised multiple confidence votes in the hopes of triggering a general election, the Bloc’s strategy is not to rush to trigger one, but rather to use its new position to achieve what it sees as gains for Quebec. Learn more about the policy More videos © 2024 The Canadian Press Source link

The revelation this week of a new catalogue of pre-approved housing models in British Columbia raises questions about when a promised federal equivalent will be available. As the cost of living and unemployment rates continue to weigh on society, advocates say it’s time to accelerate the federal government’s promise to do everything it can to build more housing, quickly, and try to make it easier to build manufactured homes. “For a factory to produce housing, you have to guarantee a certain number of orders. And that’s very difficult to do when you’re working with multiple different jurisdictions, all of which have different rules about what’s allowed and what’s not,” said Carolyn Whitzman, a senior housing researcher at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities. Prefabricated housing or prefabricated construction is a method of construction where the bulk of the construction takes place off-site, often in a facility such as a factory. The story continues below the advertisement A fully constructed modular home or portions of a home are then shipped to the site, where they are assembled and connected to utilities. That potential has become a growing topic of conversation as provinces and the federal government explore ways to standardize and speed up home construction. Having standardized designs means developers can eliminate paperwork and start building quickly. Whitzman said this is demonstrated by the city of Kelowna, B.C., which introduced standardized designs in 2022, well before the rest of the province. “Kelowna can get these pre-approved projects approved in 10 days. Whereas in the Greater Toronto Area, for example, it could easily take 18 months to get an infill project approved,” she said. Whitzman said a federal catalog was a necessity of the moment. “Whatever level of government can do it, they should do it. It’s much less effective to have 750 municipalities and over 5,000 people do a whole bunch of changes than it is to have 10 provinces and three territories do it. And it’s more effective to have national standards,” she said. What does the BC catalog contain? The story continues below the advertisement The British Columbia government announced Wednesday has released a free catalog of duplex, triplex, quadplex and townhouse models that are compatible with the 2024 British Columbia Building Code. Get the latest national news For news that impacts Canada and the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts directly when it happens. These designs can be customized for different lot sizes and configurations for use throughout British Columbia. A spokesperson for AccommodationInfrastructure and Communities Canada told Global News the plan will support federal efforts, but did not answer a question about when exactly the federal catalogue will be available beyond “late 2024.” “B.C.’s standardized design project is a great example of how provinces and territories can support our shared housing construction priorities, and discussions with provinces and territories will continue as needed to ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place at all levels of government to support the adoption of catalogue designs,” the statement said. Budget 2024 provided $11.6 million in 2024-25 to support the development of the housing design catalogue for up to 50 models. The catalogue is currently in the request for proposals (RFP) phase, with the housing minister seeking design services “for the development of low-rise designs under the initiative”. So-called “strawberry box” or “victory houses” were built for Second World War veterans and still stand in many Canadian neighbourhoods. On Tuesday, the federal government announced it was reviving the policy. Library and Archives Canada The story continues below the advertisement 1:57 Atlantic housing ministers say manufactured homes are the way forward Current trend Canada-wide arrest warrant issued for woman wanted for murder in Toronto Linkin Park’s new singer faces accusations of ties to Scientology and Danny Masterson Whitzman says Canada’s approach to housing has been very “piecemeal,” with each municipality having its own variation of building codes, design requirements and zoning regulations. “It is impossible to build housing quickly and also to build infill housing in a standardised manner,” she said. “Kelowna has been a leader in design. British Columbia is now a leader in design. And I hope the federal government will lead the way in design…the more we can move decision-making up to the next level of government, the better.” 2:33 Activists react to Montreal modular housing pilot project The story continues below the advertisement Singh said the pre-approved designs will not only help speed up the construction process but also reduce construction costs and avoid delays. While Singh called for action at the federal level, she said more provinces also need to do their part as Canadians continue to face housing and financial challenges. Singh said some provinces, like her home province of Ontario, do not agree with Ottawa. “Given the often politicized nature of the relationship between the Ford government and the Trudeau government, I worry that this is going to end up in the pile of good ideas never done,” she said of implementing the housing catalogue. Learn more about Canada More videos She noted that Mississauga, Ont., now has two pre-approved templates that can be downloaded from the city’s website. “This shows us that municipalities want pre-approved designs and would benefit from the province adopting a national catalogue,” Singh said. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canada will need nearly 3.5 million additional new homes by 2030. A federal catalogue of designs would not be new to Canada. When thousands of veterans returned to Canada after the Second World War, the country was facing a housing crisis. To cut red tape and speed up the construction and approval process, Ottawa published a catalogue of pre-approved home designs that builders could begin building immediately. Hundreds of thousands of new homes were built across Canada in a short period of time. The story continues below the advertisement In December, Housing Minister Sean Fraser announced the Liberals were scrapping the nearly 80-year-old program and revamping it. © 2024 Global News, a division of…

Republican Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance faces anger from Democrats after decrying school shootings as a “fact of life” and advocating for increased security over stricter gun control. “If these psychopaths come after our children, we have to be prepared,” Vance said at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, just a day after a terrorist attack. Georgia school shooting leaves four dead. “We don’t have to like the reality we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We have to deal with it.” Asked by a reporter what steps should be taken to stop school shootings, the Ohio senator dismissed Democrats’ argument for tougher gun laws, saying shootings happen in states with both lax and strict laws. Instead, he said it makes more sense to give schools more money for security. The story continues below the advertisement “I don’t like that this is a reality,” Vance said. “But if you’re a psychopath and you want to make headlines, you know our schools are easy targets. And we need to have more security in our schools. We need to have more security so that if a psychopath wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of kids, he can’t do it.” 3:26 Georgia shooting: At least 4 dead, several injured after shots fired at Winder High School Vance said he doesn’t like the idea of ​​his own children going to a school with heightened security, “but that’s increasingly the reality we live in.” His comments were immediately picked up by Kamala Harris presidential campaign team. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can and will take action to protect our children,” read a message sent to X by the Democratic presidential candidate, along with an excerpt of Vance’s comments. The story continues below the advertisement School shootings aren’t just a fact of life. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can and will take action to protect our children. https://t.co/Oi8s9MfgvU — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 6, 2024 Harris’ running mate, Governor Tim Walzalso weighed in, posting: “This is pathetic. We can’t abandon our children, they deserve better.” This is pathetic. We cannot abandon our children: they deserve better. https://t.co/ozYdvpDJ4u — Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 6, 2024 The story continues below the advertisement The Democratic National Committee also criticized Vance in a statementwriting: “Let’s be clear: No matter what Donald Trump and JD Vance say, tragedies like this do not have to be a “fact of life,” and we do not simply have to “get over it” when Americans, including young children, are violently murdered.” Get the latest national news For news that impacts Canada and the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts directly when it happens. But Vance has doubled down on his efforts to speak out on Phoenix, posting on X: “Kamala wants to take away security from our schools instead of protecting our children. Instead of addressing her own failures, she lies about what I said. More desperation from the biggest fraud in American politics.” Kamala wants to dismantle safety in our schools instead of protecting our children. Instead of facing her own failures, she lies about what I said. More despair from the biggest fraud in American politics. https://t.co/KNOwOtpcLx — JD Vance (@JDVance) September 6, 2024 Current trend Tim Walz’s Close Family Clarifies Situation Regarding Viral ‘Walz’s for Trump’ Photo 70-year-old man dies after Florida surgeon removes liver instead of spleen, attorney says He called the Georgia shootings a “terrible tragedy” and said the families needed prayers and sympathy. The story continues below the advertisement Vance spokesman William Martin also defended the politician’s comments, criticizing the Associated Press for a headline that said did not include full context of Vance’s statement, telling Fox News, “This is yet another case of fake news media “to lie brazenly about a Republican politician.” The Associated Press later corrected his initial title — “JD Vance Says School Shootings Are ‘Fact of Life,’ Calls for Better Safety,” — read “JD Vance Says He Laments School Shootings Are ‘Fact of Life,’” and wrote on X that they updated their filing “to add context to Vance’s partial quote.” This article replaces a previous article that was deleted to add context to Vance’s partial quote. — The Associated Press (@AP) September 6, 2024 The father of the 14-year-old suspect accused of killing four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, has been arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder. The story continues below the advertisement State authorities announced the charges against Colin Gray, 54, on Thursday. He was also charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children. Authorities said Thursday that the charges were filed because the father “knowingly” allowed his son, 14-year-old Colt Gray, to possess the military-style rifle used in the shooting. 2:14 Father of Georgia school shooting suspect charged with murder “His charges are directly related to the actions of his son,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at Thursday night’s news conference. If convicted on all counts, Colin faces a maximum prison sentence of 180 years. More about the world More videos © 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. Source link