Month: April 2019

Pokémon Go has detailed the finale of its summer event schedule – a global “Ultra Unlock” which will bring legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to regular raids for the first time. Up until now, the elusive creature has only been available in invite-only EX Raids, which for some players are hard to trigger.

This event comes after dedicated raiding days for Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres, all three of which will return to legendary raids from 13th to 20th September (and once again have the possibility of being Shiny). UK players, bear in mind the event begins at 1pm Pacific time on the 13th (which is 9pm UK time) so the first legendary bird raids will pop here from the morning of Friday 14th.

Mewtwo raids will then take place from 20th September (again, from 1pm Pacific, so actually the day after) to 23rd October.

Alongside all of this, Kanto regional Pokémon Farfetch’d, Kangaskhan, Mr. Mime and Tauros, exclusively available in Japan, Australia, Europe and North America respectively, will be added to 7km eggs so all players will be able to hatch them.

And finally, there will be another set of increased Kanto creature spawns.

The big news here though is the month of Mewtwo raids – a huge surprise, considering it’s pretty much the strongest and most sought after creature in the game. It all feels like Niantic is clearing the way for what’s really coming next in Pokémon Go – Gen 4 – whenever that finally arrives.

Several questions remain – how frequently will the legendary birds spawn, considering Regirock is still around until 20th September? And with Mewtwo available from regular raids, will it finally be replaced as EX Raid candidate by Gen 3 legendary Deoxys?

Canada has always been “the little brother to the U.S.” on the world stage, noticeably smaller in many ways. Our tech sector is hitting a growth spurt and we’ve had growing pains until now. This little brother opened 11,500 new tech sector positionslast year, and the growing pain is the fact we needed to fill those positions yesterday.

About a year and a half ago, many of us in the industry estimated that the Trump administration’s tighter H1-B Visa requirements (for temporary non-immigrant work) would inevitably have some kind of effect on their influx of foreign tech-sector professionals.

Though big brother’s immigration belt-tightening was expected, there was no way to predict just how many positions and people it may affect, nor how that would play out in Canada.

Would there be more interest in the Canadian tech sector if it was harder to find employment in the U.S. as an immigrant? Might there even be more U.S. applicants looking to make a move, disenchanted by the new administration?

Opportune timing

Hiring personnel in tech want to find skilled employees because we’re looking to grow our businesses. When not enough are available locally, why not seek foreign workers? Is it beneficial to wait and see if more Canadians will appear in five years with the skills we need? No, because by then the industry has changed so much, the position may itself become irrelevant and outdated.

Historically, Canada’s tech sector has been lower-profile than that of Silicon Valley, in regards to the tech businesses we’ve typically seen, explained Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of start-up incubator MaRS. The very nature of the tech business in Canada — from tech infrastructure, to fintech or digital solutions for the energy sectors — make it less visible abroad.

Changing tides

While we find that in our part of the tech sector we haven’t seen thousands of Americans applying, a Canadian study (by MaRS) reports that Toronto tech-sector employers had a higher rate of U.S. applicants — 82 per cent if applicants were from the U.S. My Canadian colleagues in the industry have also personally seen a boom across our little “Silicon Valley,” the Toronto-Waterloo corridor.

Further, we have seen an enormous increase in applicants from Brazil, India and China, and some modest applicant numbers from the U.K. and Australia. There’s a real influx of tech job seekers from all areas of the world, and so the interest in Canadian tech sector jobs is there and growing.

Turning opportunity into long-term results

Now that the immigration situation has turned the attention of prospective employees towards us, we need to make them take notice by reaching out, showing them the advantages of employment in the Canadian tech sector.

Slow immigration and fast job demands just don’t go together, so new barriers are likely to push the applicant to either delay, re-think or even cancel an immigration application. It’s all about perception.

The opportunity now exists for Canadian tech companies to “plant their company flags” in the countries that we see the influx coming from — they’ll hopefully remember that Canada was in their corner when they were looking for better opportunities.

The foreign applicants will most likely remember that these companies wanted talented people and were willing to assist with the barriers to entry — not just with immigration obstacles, to clear, but culturally. I believe it’s a company’s job to soften the landing their foreign worker just made.

Some companies already offer huge incentives to their employees to assist with moving allowances, general wellness and personal well-being. Such incentives would help foreign workers feel more at home more quickly, generating loyalty and thus retention.

On the note of retention, it’s important to recognize that foreign workers, if properly onboarded, are easier to retain than domestic workers, generally because they’re grateful for the opportunity to start a different life and possibly bring over family. It’s an investment both in the company and the Canadian economy overall.

Bumps in the road

Of course, there’s skepticism. I’ve heard some questions about foreign job placements and millennial unemployment — “Why should we want to bring in foreign talent when there are college students out of work?” — but the truth is we can’t fill all the spots we need domestically.

Our industry is simply growing too fast. If you have the skills that are in demand, there is an opening for you somewhere. The demand is increasing and will continue to increase. If you want a job in tech in Canada, you can get one. And it isn’t about finding someone “cheaper,” either. In fact, it often costs companies money to sponsor a foreign applicant.

The obvious signs of growth will spur a demand for the next generation of students to aim for the tech sector, in greater numbers, with greater confidence that the Canadian tech sector will need them, too, as it continues to grow.

There will be skeptics who say we’re just looking for cheaper workers (but, as previously mentioned, it isn’t cheaper — especially when providing onboarding and landing incentives), or that we’re doing it to make some kind of political statement. That’s fine. Let them make noise. I have only one thing in mind when it comes to hiring workers, foreign or domestic.

I just want the best candidate, and thanks to Big Brother, the selection is ripe for the picking.

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TORONTO — Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative government vowed Thursday to bring in sweeping changes meant to restore public trust in the province in a throne speech that played up promises made by Premier Doug Ford during the spring election campaign.

The speech — written by the premier’s office and read by Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell at the Ontario legislature — set out a road map for the new Progressive Conservative government’s term, pledging to cut taxes, provide long-term funding for the health-care system and slash government waste.

It did not introduce new promises but instead highlighted key pledges from Ford to conduct a line-by-line audit of all government spending, pull out of the cap-and-trade system and fight what his government calls “oppressive” taxes, including the imposition of a federal carbon price.

The government has been given “a clear mandate from Ontarians” to carry out its vision at a pivotal time for the province, the speech said.

“The fact is that Ontario is at a critical juncture. We face mounting challenges at home and abroad. These challenges, if left unchecked, threaten livelihoods and imperil public services,” it said.

“We cannot afford to dither or delay. To overcome these challenges we must challenge the status quo, reject the old compromises and embrace change.”

The government stressed the need for collaboration — with other levels of government, with parents and teachers, with law enforcement — in vowing to restore faith in public institutions.

“In a time of global turmoil and change, maintaining and strengthening the bond between the people and their public representatives must always be top of mind for us all. It is very much top of mind for your new government,” it said.

The speech promised the government will take action to reduce taxes for parents, small businesses and the working poor, and pledged to bring down electricity bills.

It further said the government will provide stable health-care funding, including a $3.8 billion investment in mental health, addictions and supportive housing.

However, it made no mention of one issue the government had said would be one of its priorities for the rare summer sitting of the legislature: ending an ongoing strike at York University.

Ford nonetheless stressed those priorities in a statement Thursday, saying his government would get to work quickly so “people can see real change fast.”

“We are ending the deadlocked strike at York University so students can get back to school. We are striking the cap-and-trade carbon tax from the books. And we are cancelling unnecessary renewable energy projects to help lower your electricity bills,” he said.

In the statement, the Tories said the summer session will build on the work their government has already undertaken, such as steps to dismantle cap and trade and measures to curb government spending.

University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman said Ford, who led the party to a sweeping majority, is capitalizing on his momentum.

“Politically, I think what he’s doing is smart,” he said. “He feels the wind in his sails. He wants to keep it that way. This gives him an opportunity to get this attention now.”

Ford made good on a key campaign promise Wednesday, announcing the immediate retirement of the CEO of Hydro One and the resignation of the utility’s entire board of directors. He said the move would bring down electricity rates but struggled to explain how when asked repeatedly by reporters.

If there’s anything Vancouver’s property market isn’t, it’s average. In fact, it’s looking increasingly like a land of extremes.

A new report from global realty firm Knight Frank ranks the city’s luxury property market as the weakest among major cities worldwide. Two years ago, the same index had Vancouver in top spot.

Knight Frank’s prime cities residential index for the third quarter of 2018 places Vancouver 43rd out of 43 cities, with luxury prices dropping 11.3 per cent in the past year. Toronto ranked in 7th place, with 8.5-per-cent price growth over that time. (See chart below.)

Singapore took first place, with 13.1 per cent price growth. Toronto and Vancouver are the only Canadian cities ranked in the report.

Watch: This burned-out house in Vancouver is selling for $4M (story continues below).

“Toronto continues to see prime prices rise in its exclusive areas of Rosedale and Yorkville,” Knight Frank said in the report.

“Vancouver, however, sits at the bottom of our rankings as upmarket areas such as West Vancouver have seen a marked slowdown in sales and prices as a result of the raft of measures introduced in February’s (provincial) budget.”

But that’s just looking at luxury housing. When looking at the overall market, the two Canadian cities reverse roles: Vancouver ranked in 10th place in Knight Frank’s assessment of the entire housing market last month, while Toronto saw a steep drop to 137th place, out of 150 cities, down from first place a year earlier.

Vancouver’s housing market has been so quiet lately you can hear the crickets chirp. The latest data from the city’s real estate board showed sales fell 43.5 per cent in September from the same month a year earlier, and are well below the long-run average.

Meanwhile, with fewer homes selling, the supply has soared, with 38 per cent more homes for sale today than a year ago.

The city joins other metro areas whose luxury markets have softened recently, particularly Sydney and Hong Kong, both of which, like Vancouver, were high flyers until recently. If these cities have anything in common, it’s their link to China’s economy — which has been going through a slowdown recently.

A policy-induced slowdown?

But other factors have taken a more direct toll on Vancouver’s once-hot real estate. The foreign buyers tax, introduced in 2016, has reduced demand from abroad, and new housing taxes introduced this year are keeping potential buyers from entering the market, as they wait to see what the effect will be.

Finally, new mortgage rules, introduced at the start of this year, effectively reduced the amount homebuyers can borrow by about 20 per cent.

Here’s Knight Frank’s ranking of the world’s luxury housing markets. (Full report is here.)

Like many Ontario teachers, Misha Costescu worries that the new provincial government’s decision to revert to a 1998 version of sexual education in schools means kids will miss critical lessons, like proper online safety and respect.

“Tell me a kid who is over the age of 12 who doesn’t have access to an iPad or to a phone, and all the trouble that they can get into there,” he said in an interview with HuffPost Canada. “Even just the comments that can be left online on a social media page or even in an online video game that are so inappropriate.”

Much of Costescu’s 18-year career has been spent teaching physical education and health, but there’s another reason this issue hits home.

“I’ve had family members who have gone through the old curriculum and felt that it essentially marginalized them,” said Costescu, whose brother is gay. The teacher said his four children are loved by a set of uncles with adopted kids of their own.

“That’s a great example of a family that kids need to learn… this is all acceptable. And the earlier they learn it, the better it is for everyone.”

Rolling back the sex-ed curriculum to a late ’90s version is a disservice to students and does not reflect current realities, many teachers say.

Education Minister Lisa Thompson revealed this week that schools will revert to the curriculum in place before the previous Ontario Liberal government updated the materials in 2015 to include same-sex marriage, gender identity, consent, and online protection, among other things.

Social conservatives had targeted the revamped lessons’ references to masturbation, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Thompson said Thursday the provincial government is following through on an election promise to repeal and replace the curriculum.

“We listened to parents across the province who were concerned about the lack of consultation with the new curriculum,” she said. “Until proper consultation with parents is completed, we will revert back to the previous sex-education curriculum.”

But there are “so many things the 1998 curriculum can’t address because they weren’t part of our world,” said Andrew Campbell, a Grade 5 teacher in Brantford. Gay marriage, for example, was not legal across Canada until 2005.

Sexting, the sharing of explicit photographs usually by cellphone, is “very much an issue now,” he said. Students are interested in discussing how issues impact transgender people, something he said wouldn’t have come up 20 years ago. Popular media, such as a TV dramas that include date rape, will continue to spark questions from curious young minds.

“So, how will this curriculum help prepare our students for the world when it can’t reflect the realities of our current world?” he asked.

The president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) called out the government’s decision to spend new money on consultations on the same issue again, after thousands of people and groups provided feedback.

“For a premier who talks about driving efficiencies, that seems to me the definition of inefficiency,” Harvey Bischof told HuffPost in an interview.

Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, added, “When you realize the extent of previous consultations, it becomes very clear that this move by the [Doug] Ford government is very much ideologically driven.”

In the 24 hours since the government’s announcement, Hammond told HuffPost that members have reached out saying they’re “deeply concerned” about the safety of their students.

By repealing the revised curriculum, Hammond said the government risks flouting Ontario human rights laws if the “meaningful and age-appropriate” lessons about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights and issues disappear.

“These groups are protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code and schools are a place to learn, and to have respect for diversity and inclusion,” he said.

What can teachers do?

Union members are required to follow the mandated curriculum, Bischof said, adding that teachers “aren’t in the position to defy the instructions of their superiors when it comes to what is taught.”

But Campbell, a teacher for more than 23 years, said that this doesn’t mean certain topics are automatically out of bounds.

“The curriculum is not a list of things you’re not allowed to cover; it’s a minimum list of things you can cover,” he said. “So there’s no reason why, if teachers feel the need to cover things that aren’t in the curriculum, that they couldn’t do that.”

A teacher covering the language curriculum could ensure students read materials that cover issues of consent, Campbell said. He noted the social studies curriculum does include references to same-sex couples.

Costescu, who teaches Grade 7/8 in Kanata, agrees that teachers will need to go “above and beyond” the curriculum to share those relevant stories and examples.

Bischof, a former English teacher and head of OSSTF, said it comes to down to a general truth that knowledge is power.

“Kids are in a better position to safeguard their health and well-being when they know more and not less, and that applies across the school system — I don’t see why it wouldn’t apply to this curriculum.”

With files from The Canadian Press

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Over the past decade 47 dogs have died across the U.S. during grooming, or within days of showing signs of ill health after grooming, at the nation’s leading pet retailer, a New Jersey news organization reports, though what the numbers mean is uncertain.

NJ.com said that its count is based on reports by PetSmart customers in 14 states, and said it is not definitive because there is little public accounting of such deaths, and no state requires all individual groomers to be licensed.

PetSmart does millions of groomings a year, so the deaths cited represent only a tiny fraction of the pets it works with.

And because of a lack of data, NJ.com said it was impossible to determine if the rate of deaths during or immediately after grooming at PetSmart is higher or lower than at other groomers.

PetSmart, which has more than 1,600 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, would not disclose the number of deaths it is aware of. But it said “any assertion that there is a systemic problem is false and fabricated.”

“At PetSmart nothing is more important than the safety of the pets in our care,” their statement said. “That is why we have set the highest grooming safety standards in the industry.”

NJ.com set out to find out how many dogs have died during or shortly after grooming following the December death of Scruffles, an English bulldog groomed at a PetSmart in Flemington, New Jersey. The case generated wide interest on social media.

During the news organization’s review, PetSmart announced it would improve dog screenings before groomings, install cameras in grooming areas and review its training procedures. The company also said it intended to hold an open house at all of its grooming salons Sunday.

NJ.com said it could not determine what, if any, connection there is between the groomings and the dog deaths. Nor could it determine whether the timing of any of the deaths was coincidence.

The pets that died represented at least 25 breeds. But the news organization did find that many were brachycephalic dogs, those with short noses and flat faces that are prone to breathing problems, particularly in hot or stressful situations.

The news organization said in its report Thursday that the causes of death can be hard to prove. It also said nondisclosure agreements struck in some deaths have led to a lack of transparency, as have confidentiality agreements signed when grieving pet owners have taken their cases to court and reached settlements.

The company maintains millions of loyal customers. Sue Conti, 69, of Carteret, New Jersey, said Gizmo — her pint-sized Maltese, which is about 15 years old — has been groomed its entire life at the PetSmart in Woodbridge. She said she always has been “very pleased.”

That wasn’t the case for Nick Pomilio, 72, of Philadelphia, who said he took his English bulldog, Capone, for a grooming at PetSmart in February 2017. When Capone emerged, Pomilio told nj.com he couldn’t walk and employees loaded the dog into a shopping cart and wheeled him to the car. Pomilio said he started to drive home but turned around less than five minutes later when he realized the dog had stopped breathing.

He raced back to the store for help, he said, but it was too late — Capone was dead.

Dog deaths ‘the biggest fear’ for groomers

Groomers and veterinarians say groomings anywhere can present a number of dangers to dogs if safety measures are not followed. They include overheating — sometimes the result of drying cages — intense stress and rough handling.

Little research, however, has been done on the issue, though a Brazilian study documented 94 dogs that died during grooming, bathing, and other pet services from 2004 to 2009.

Dog deaths during grooming are uncommon, Perry Habecker, a staff pathologist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, told NJ.com.

“But if you talk to groomers,” he said, “it’s the biggest fear in their background.”