TORONTO — Canada’s small and mid-sized companies must find ways to adapt to a “new norm” of worker shortages that will likely persist for a decade, says Pierre Cleroux, chief economist for the Business Development Bank of Canada.

“They represent about 50 per cent of the Canadian economy. So they are very important. Also, they are very important in smaller communities,” Cleroux said in an interview ahead of a report issued Wednesday by the federal Crown corporation.

The BDC’s survey of 1,208 people from small and medium-sized businesses, with at least $500,000 in annual sales, found 39 per cent of them were having difficulties hiring the types of new workers they required.

The bank’s report comes ahead of Statistics Canada’s release on Friday of the labour force survey for the month of August. Last month, its national unemployment rate for July fell to a four-decade low of 5.8 per cent.

A private-sector analysis from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released last month also found its “job vacancy rate” hit 3.1 per cent in the second quarter — a new high for a statistic calculated since 2004.

Cleroux says the recent strength of the economy is one reason for the trend but the bigger issue is that the supply of younger workers is barely keeping up with the number of older people who are retiring.

“A lot of people think this is only temporary,” Cleroux said. “Unfortunately this is not the case and it’s important to understand that, because they have to change the way they manage their human resources.”

“Because this is a new normal. If you think this is temporary, you will take temporary measures — which is the wrong way to approach this issue.”

The strategies will vary depending on factors such as location and the number of employees in the company, he said, but noted that businesses would benefit from doing more to promote their corporate image through social media.

“Most people have a choice when they’re looking for a job,” Cleroux said. “So if your company is small, it might be a bit more difficult to attract people unless you position your company in a better way.”

Only 24 per cent of the respondents to the BDC’s telephone survey, conducted by Maru/Matchbox between April 30 and May 11, said they were investing more to improve their image.

By contrast, 35 per cent said their business was changing compensation policies in response to labour shortage, 40 per cent were hiring younger employees and 43 per cent indicated they were hiring less-qualified workers.

Other strategies cited were: recruiting retired workers (33 per cent), using employment agencies (22 per cent) and recruiting immigrants (18 per cent).

Positive for wage growth

CFIB chief economist Ted Mallett said in an interview that the 110,000-member organization’s analysis shows businesses who report labour shortages tend to plan for higher wage settings.

Wage growth is projected at 2.8 per cent for those with vacancies, compared with 1.9 per cent that don’t have vacancies, he said.

“So they are responding on the price side but that won’t solve the issue for everybody,” Mallett said.

Small-town, rural businesses have it tougher

Some businesses have responded by hiring fewer but more highly skilled employees while others have turned to increased automation.

But Mallett also noted that companies based in small towns or rural areas tend to have some extra difficulties.

“You know, if there are more opportunities showing up in those areas, it’s tougher for other small competing businesses to continue to find their labour force.”

BDC — which specializes in financing solutions such as commercial lending and venture capital for startups — says the labour shortage is hampering Canada’s economic competitiveness.

“Specifically, our statistical analysis shows that firms that are more affected by labour shortages are 65 per cent more likely to be low-growth companies,” the 27-page report says.

The shortage was most acute with companies with from 10 to 99 employees, where more than half of respondents indicated it was “difficult to hire” new workers and less than a one-quarter said it was “easy to hire.”

I’m sure you’ve seen them: Heritage Minutes — those dramatized, 60-second TV spots and cinema shorts that celebrate iconic events, stories and people from Canadian history?

Well on June 13 Historica Canada, the organization responsible for creating this growing collection of national gems, marks its own historic milestone by releasing its first-ever Heritage Minute dealing with Canadian LGBTQI2S history.

Joining such notable historical figures as Sir John A. MacDonald, Viola Desmond, Louis Riel, Laura Secord, Agnes Macphail, Richard Pierpoint and Emily Carr is James Egan, Canada’s pioneer gay activist.

From 1949 to 1964 Egan wrote a deluge of letters and articles to the Toronto press, challenging the lurid, stereotyped depictions of homosexuals in the tabloids and arguing for the repeal of laws which criminalized same-sex relationships. In doing so, Egan became the first person in Canada to speak out publicly for gay rights.

In the summer of 1948, at the beverage room of Toronto’s Savarin Hotel, Egan met and fell in love with the young man who became his life partner: Jack Nesbit. However, in post-war Canada (until 1969) homosexuality between consenting adults was illegal under the Criminal Code, punishable by imprisonment. Jack’s fear about Jim’s increasingly public profile as a gay spokesperson finally prompted Egan to give up the chase and move with Jack (and their three Chihuahuas) to Vancouver Island in 1964. They focused on their business, preserving and selling biological marine specimens, and Jim found new political outlets as an environmental activist and elected politician for the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona.

But Egan wasn’t finished with gay activism. Upon retirement he decided to wage one last battle for the LGBTQ community, this time with Jack standing proudly by his side. Both men were convinced that politicians would never have the gumption to recognize gay rights, so they decided to seek equality through the courts.

In 1987, Jim applied for a spousal pension benefit for Jack that was routinely granted to heterosexual couples. As expected, the federal government denied them the allowance on the basis that Jack did not meet the definition of “spouse” under the law: namely, “a member of the opposite sex.” Thus began an eight-year Charter of Rights challenge that would end at the Supreme Court. Although Egan and Nesbit did not win the pension benefit, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that sexual orientation was protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — a landmark victory in the fight for LGBTQ rights in Canada.

I was honoured a year ago when Historica Canada asked me to be a consultant on their Heritage Minute about Egan. I knew Jim and Jack personally because in 1995 I made a documentary film about them: Jim Loves Jack: The James Egan Story. When I was fresh out of graduate film school, and only recently out of the closet as a young gay man, I was doing research on the gay community for the National Film Board. The NFB was just starting to produce films about the lives, stories and struggles of LGBTQ Canadians. A few years later, Egan’s Supreme Court case was making headlines, and I put two and two together. Jim Egan and Jack Nesbit were figures of major importance to the history of LGBTQ rights in Canada, and somebody — namely me — had to make a film about them.

In 1995 there were few films made about queer Canadian history and heroes. Our stories and contributions to Canadian society remained largely unknown, even to many within our own communities. James Egan loomed as an exceptional figure whose story needed to be documented while he and Jack were still around to tell it in their own voices.

For centuries, the existence of LGBTQ people has been omitted, suppressed or rendered invisible by mainstream historians. This history is still not widely taught or spoken about in schools. Growing up as gay kid in Saskatoon, I didn’t know that some of the most famous historical figures — philosophers, conquerors, explorers, artists, composers, writers, scientists, kings and queens, political and social leaders — also happened to be queer. Knowledge about LGBTQ history and the significant contributions LGBTQ people have made to human society is important to queer youth. It supports the positive development of their identity and pride, and a sense of connection to other people, past and present, with whom they share common experiences, feelings and struggles.

Why is it important for non-LGBTQ Canadians to learn about LGBTQ history?

Because understanding the journeys of others who are different from us breaks down barriers of ignorance and prejudice, and because recognizing the mistakes and injustices of the past can help us recognize them in the present, and possibly avoid them in the future.

Lest we think that the legalization of gay marriage and official apologies from the prime minister mean that the struggles of LGBTQ people are over, consider this sobering fact: 25 to 40 per cent of the homeless kids living on the streets of our Canadian cities identify as LGBTQ. These youth have left home or been kicked out because of lack of love and acceptance in their families and communities. Laws may have changed, but there is still clearly much work to do in fostering real social acceptance and understanding toward LGBTQ people in the hearts and minds of the general public.

Historica Canada’s embracing of queer Canadian history is a welcome step forward in this journey.

We need to continue celebrating the rich diversity of the many heroes and ordinary Canadians who, together, have built this country.

Every one of them is part of our heritage.

David Adkin is a Canadian documentary film producer, director and writer, whose films include Jim Loves Jack: The James Egan Story and several episodes of the White Pine Pictures/History Television series A Scattering of Seeds: The Creation of Canada.

Have you been affected personally by this or another issue? Share your story on HuffPost Canada blogs. We feature the best of Canadian opinion and perspectives. Find out how to contribute here.

TORONTO — The Ontario government is cancelling a scheduled increase in the provincial beer tax that was set to kick in next month — a move that will see the province forgo $11 million in potential revenue.

The Progressive Conservatives said Friday that the three-cent-per-litre increase was planned by the previous Liberal regime and will be scrapped.

“This is just one more tax hike that was due,” Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said in an interview. “We look at every single opportunity to rein in the taxes. From the largest possible, the cap-and-trade tax, all the way through to the beer tax.”

The government said beer taxes have increased by three cents per litre each year since 2015. Beer and wine taxes brought in revenues of roughly $589 million in 2016-2017.

The halting of this year’s increase — which was set to take effect Nov. 1 — will mean Ontario’s treasury will forgo $11 million in potential revenue that would have come in between November and the end of the fiscal year in March 2019, the government said.

The move comes as the government has said it faces a challenge to deal with the province’s deficit and debt. Fedeli noted that tax increases aren’t part of the government’s strategy, saying debt and deficit would be tackled through “efficiencies.”

The government is currently reviewing the province’s approach to beer and wine sales, including the possible expansion of sales into corner and big box stores.

Fedeli said the government was still looking at that possible expansion but didn’t have a timeline for when a report on the matter would be released.

“It’s a monumental task,” he said. “There’s a lot of information gathering … We want to provide more access and we want to do it right.”

Earlier On HuffPost:

Green Party leader Mike Schreiner said the Ford government is “obsessed” with beer-related policies at the expense of more pressing matters.

“How many new teachers or nurses could have been hired with this beer tax revenue?” he said in a statement. “The average Ontarian won’t notice a one-cent difference on beer, but they will notice the declining state of our hospitals and schools as the premier follows through with his austerity plans.”

Earlier this year, the government brought back so-called buck-a-beer to the province.

The policy implemented this summer lowers the minimum price of a bottle or can of beer to $1 from $1.25. Brewers are not required to charge less and the minimum price doesn’t apply to draft beer, nor does it include the bottle deposit.

Businesses were offered prime spots in Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores and advertising in the store magazine’s inserts, among other possible incentives for selling their beer for $1.

Two breweries, Cool Brewery in Toronto and Barley Days Brewery in Picton, Ont., have said they will offer lower-priced brews, while Loblaws offered its President’s Choice beer for one dollar a bottle for a limited time.

Imagine waking up every morning with a clear vision of what you truly want in life. It remains in your mind and heart, but fear and doubt stifle the courage to turn it into reality. The only thing to do when you hate your job is to follow your passion.

The first part of my life story is similar to most people’s that have a dream that dies out because of a fear of failure. I lived in the sunny state of Florida close to palm trees, diverse cultures and the best food made on American soil. In my mind, it felt as if I was living in paradise but it was far from the truth.

My dead-end job experience

My day consisted of driving on the I-95, racing to get to work on time. I sat in my cubicle and glanced through the window wondering how life would be if I had more freedom to do what made me happy. The sight of seeing people play golf during the day as I was struggling to get to work was depressing. I wondered why there is a small percentage of people that live an effortlessly amazing life that most people can only dream of living.

I settled for conformity because it was a blanket of security. This blanket made me feel warm when the universe pushed opportunities for me to step outside of my comfort zone, for which I was not prepared. The reality is, even a fraction of my time doing what I truly loved might have opened the doors of opportunity earlier in life.

The day I needed to change my life

I remember the day when I went for a job interview with a recruitment agency. The interviewer had a puzzled look on her face. She asked me, “Why are you here? Your resume states that you have a degree in journalism. You should be pursuing a career that you are passionate about.” I felt embarrassed. A woman I never met before reminded me that I was on the wrong journey in my career. Why did it take this long for me to realize this myself?

Following my passion

I woke up one morning with an intuitive feeling that a few areas of my life needed to change drastically. I ran to my computer and searched how to write a LinkedIn profile to start sharing my freelance work. Although I had no idea what to put on a resume to make it perfect, it felt like there was a higher force helping me to write. At the time, I had no professional writing samples or a website. I landed my first assignment, and in my mind, my hobby for writing became a lifestyle my heart was unable to live without.

My evenings were spent completing writing assignments. I lost hours of sleep running into work the next morning, but a burning desire to chase my dream until it became a reality was my deepest source of motivation.

I took out a pen and a notepad and started writing my goals in specific details, from the dollar amount to my desired income to the environment of working from home. To avoid putting pressure on myself to make irrational decisions, I decided not to put a timeline on milestones. In my heart, I deserved a better life, and in my mind, I was willing to work hard for it to come true.

The day I left the corporate world

The day that I left my full-time corporate job, my heart was pulsating rapidly. The thought of failure raced through my mind. The feeling of fear was about to take over my thoughts, but I decided to think of all the reasons why this decision was for the best. My friends were my cheerleaders, reminding me that it was the beginning of an improved life. At the moment, I thought they were kind, but in the end, they were right.

I remembered my friends that were unhappy with their lives because they felt stuck working at a job they were no longer passionate. My mind started to play conversations I had with older people that admitted their regret of not taking a chance on their dreams. I was blessed because my family supported me and encouraged me to take a chance and see where a career in freelance writing would lead me. The most significant people in history like Oprah and Steve Jobs reminded me that life is what I was willing to make it.

In my mind, running a full-time writing business was a far-fetched dream that I wouldn’t see for another decade of my life. I remained grateful to work at a job, but my heart and passion for writing made me feel alive.

Most of you are reading this article with the thought that I was one of the “lucky ones.” I want to share that my parents didn’t help me get to this place in life. Although it would have made the transition easier, I had no New York Times best selling author to depend on for advice.

The next time you are about to make a drastic life decision, think of all the reasons why it will work. Neglect the negative thoughts in your mind, and think about what your future will be missing if you don’t take the first step.

I’d like to let everyone in on a little-known secret about the female body, one that is heavily guarded, even from cisgender women themselves: vaginas are supposed to taste (and smell) like vaginas.

Perhaps you think you already know this information, but you brag about your own vagina’s total lack of flavour. Or maybe, you’re standing in a drugstore wondering why scented vagina sprays and flavored lubes exist if we were meant to taste regular. Regardless, the narrative in which vaginas need to be fresh, fruity or flavourless, rather than taste like themselves, needs to die.

“Wouldn’t you prefer to be that girl who smells and tastes a treat down there?” one blog posts asks, before launching into a list of suggestions to make your vagina taste like dessert.

In another article, this one, on Thought Catalog, 13 men described the flavour of their girlfriend’s vaginas, with answers ranging from “strawberry ice cream” to “nothing.” Meanwhile, flavoured lubricant exists, and companies sell supplements that promise to make our vaginas mimic a fruit salad. Feminine hygiene aisles are stocked with sprays, wipes and powders that we use to soak up moisture and extend our fresh-out-of-the-shower flavourless-ness. All of this reflects a culture of shame when it comes to our vaginas.

As a teenager, vagina shame manifested as a reluctance for my partners to eat me out, although I was comfortable performing oral sex on them. In my early twenties, I was using every Summer’s Eve product in their lineup, even after my boyfriend reassured me that it was unnecessary. I kept my fridge stocked with pineapples, because some Instagram guru claimed that ingesting them added sweetness to your lady bits. And while my behaviour seems unusual to me now, it felt like a fundamental aspect of womanhood at the time.

I imagined that some women were guilty of vaginal neglect, in which they were simply washing their genitals, rather than waxing, spraying and dieting them into submission, like I was. I had two roommates with their own rosters of feminine hygiene products, and I remember us celebrating what this meant about our bodies: that we were better partners because of this.

But vaginas don’t actually require alteration. They don’t need special packaging, or to be flavoured like ice cream. And men, whose semen can taste anywhere from bitter to sweet to bleachy, are rarely met with unrealistic flavour standards the way women are. To a degree, I think we accept that they might even taste awful sometimes.

Vagina shame teaches women that their genitals need to be unobtrusive and floral. We learn not only to pay attention to how we taste, but to the scent and appearance of our sexual parts. We learn that shaving and waxing is an essential part of feminine hygiene, even though pubic hair functions to protect our vaginas from bacteria and friction. And none of that is necessary because our body parts should be allowed to taste, smell and look like body parts. In fact, they should be more than tolerated, they should be celebrated.

If the concept of vagina shame seems hard to believe, consider that many of our grandmothers and mothers taught us to sprinkle baby powder in our underwear to stay fresh. Companies like Johnson & Johnson marketed these products specifically and aggressively to black women. Later, they faced more than 1,000 lawsuits when it was discovered that they knew that their products could be linked to cervical and ovarian cancer.

In many ways, this shows how the belief that vaginas are inherently pungent, collaborated with stereotypes about blackness, to form the idea that black women in particular needed to take steps to alter their natural taste and smell. Johnson & Johnson was able to manufacture an insecurity, and then capitalize on it.

Similarly, some women spend money on douches, or the process of steaming their genital areas, even though both of these can be harmful as well. When we are made to believe there’s something inherently wrong with our body parts, it’s easy to justify practices that will allegedly fix them. The problem is: our vaginas don’t actually need fixing.

Absent of an infection, vaginas always smell and taste normal, and normal varies. Some people describe vaginas as sour, while others claim they’re vinegary. Since vaginas are acidic in nature, and a lot of people accept that as a good adjective for how they taste. To me, vaginas taste kind of like a jar of pennies, but I’m really into the flavor of these particular coins.

What you eat does affect how your vagina tastes, but it’s not that important. According to Women’s Health, garlic, alcohol, dairy, spices, broccoli, asparagus and red meat — which participate in most of our diets — can impact our pH balance and negatively affect the way our vaginas taste. Fruits, on the other hand, can make our vaginas taste sweeter.

While I recognize a little extra sweetness couldn’t be a bad thing, I don’t actually care that much to prioritize vaginas according to these minute differences in flavor. I think if any woman has a partner who requires dietary changes and special sprays to go down on her, she should find a new partner; it would require less effort.

Of course, unpleasant tastes and odors do happen. Bacterial vaginosis causes a notoriously fishy odour, and other forms of bacteria can create a smell similar to raw meat. I’m not discounting any of that, and if you’re ever seriously concerned, you should see a doctor. Otherwise, if you’re showering every day, your vagina probably smells and tastes great.

We have to abstain from the expectation that our vaginas will taste and smell like unwrapped Starburst candies. It’s an unrealistic body standard, and it prevents us from celebrating and enjoying our vaginas in their natural state. Take it from someone who owns a vagina, and has tasted a few herself: they smell far less offensive than we’re led to believe.

This article was originally posted on Bellesa.co

Many experts predicted that Ontario’s hefty minimum wage hike to $14 an hour at the start of this year would harm the province’s job creation.

TD Bank issued a study suggesting the move could cost the province some 90,000 jobs. Industry group Restaurants Canada warned the wage hike, along with other labour law reforms, would put 185,000 jobs at risk, including 17,000 in food services.

Some employers seemed to get downright nasty to their workers in the wake of the wage hike. Take, for instance, reports of some Tim Hortons franchisees cutting paid breaks and benefits for workers.

But six months later, there is no sign of the wage hike having negatively impacted job creation in Ontario. The province added some 60,000 jobs in July (though many of those were in the public sector) and its unemployment rate fell to 5.4 per cent, according to Statistics Canada data — the lowest rate in 18 years.

“While Ontario’s minimum wage increase had the expected effect of lifting Canada’s average wage growth this year, the advertised negative impact on employment is less apparent,” National Bank of Canada economist Krishen Rangasamy wrote in a client note.

“Employers seem reluctant to part with their now more expensive workers perhaps due to reported labour shortages,” Rangasamy added, “although the persistence of strong sales and profits could also explain the resilience of employment.”

Indeed, there are labour shortages all across Canada’s economy these days.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business reports there were nearly 400,000 jobs in Canada that had been unfilled for four months or more in the second quarter of this year. Ontario accounts for nearly 155,000 of those vacant jobs.

The 3.1-per-cent job vacancy rate is the highest since the CFIB started tracking these numbers in 2004.

But how have things played out for minimum-wage workers in Ontario?

We looked at two industries that rely particularly heavily on minimum wage workers: Accommodation and food services, and retail and wholesale trade.

In accommodation and food services, Ontario added an impressive 14,000 jobs since the $14-an-hour minimum wage came into force in January, an increase of 2.3 per cent.

That’s stronger job growth for that category than across Canada as a whole, which saw a 1.5 per cent increase over that time.

In wholesale and retail, Ontario lost jobs — down 0.8 per cent since the start of the year. But Canada as a whole saw jobs drop by a much steeper 1.8 per cent over that time. In this category, Ontario is still outperforming the Canadian average.

Of course, what we can’t know is how job growth in Ontario would have looked had the minimum wage hike not happened; conceivably, it may have been even stronger.

But the data suggests that the minimum wage hike didn’t derail Ontario’s economic momentum. It reflects what some economists have argued for a long time: Minimum wage hikes have little impact on job growth. Other factors in the economy play a larger role.

In Ontario’s case, that may have to do lately with the very strong population growth the province has seen over the past year — up about 1.8 per cent, according to a recent analysis from Bank of Montreal. That is creating a lot of new demand in the economy.

The previous provincial Liberal government had planned to raise the minimum wage again at the beginning of 2019, to $15 an hour.

But the new Progressive Conservative government under Premier Doug Ford has vowed to roll back that hike. The government has vowed instead to eliminate provincial income taxes for minimum wage earners.

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Most residents of a northern B.C. community are being allowed back into their homes after a gas pipeline ruptured, sparking a massive blaze.

RCMP say the explosion happened at about 5:30 p.m. PT Tuesday and forced about 100 members of the nearby Lheidli T’enneh First Nation from their homes.

Officials say it was from an Enbridge natural gas pipeline in Shelley, B.C., about 15 kilometres northeast of Prince George.

Police say residences within several kilometres were evacuated as a precaution, but the evacuation zone has now been reduced to residences within a one kilometre radius of the explosion site.

They say there are no injuries and no reported damage other than to the pipeline itself.

The gas supply has been shut down and police say there is no indication of a cause at this point in time.

National Energy Board spokesman Tom Neufeld said the fire was along Enbridge’s Westcoast main line, which falls under the board’s jurisdiction.

The Westcoast Transmission System transports natural gas produced in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin to consumers in B.C. and, through interconnecting pipelines, other Canadian provinces and the United States.

“NEB inspectors have been deployed to this area. They’re going to monitor and oversee the company’s response to the incident, and they’re going to determine the impact and extent of the fire and release,” Neufeld said.

The agency will work closely with the Transportation Safety Board, which is responsible for investigating the incident, he said.