Month: April 2019

Canada’s telecom regulator has rejected a proposal from numerous media giants, including Bell and the CBC, to institute a system for blocking websites accused of piracy.

The proposal came from the FairPlay Canada coalition, a group started by Bell Canada that eventually came to include the CBC, Rogers, cinema chain Cineplex and labour union Unifor, among others.

In a decision issued Tuesday, the CRTC in essence said it doesn’t have the jurisdiction under the Telecommunications Act to force internet service providers to block access to certain websites, as the Bell-led coalition had asked.

Making such a move would be stepping on Parliament’s toes, the regulator said.

Earlier on HuffPost: Trump advisor criticizes Canada on net neutrality (story continues below)

“Copyright piracy causes harm to the Canadian broadcasting system and the economy,” the CRTC said in a statement. “However … other avenues are more suitable to address this issue, which include the ongoing parliamentary review of the Copyright Act, as well as the expert panel review of the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act.”

Consumer activist group OpenMedia called the decision a “huge win for Canadians.”

“Bell’s FairPlay proposal would have seen innocent content knocked off the Internet, without any court oversight or due process,” the group’s executive director, Laura Tribe, said in a statement.

Under the FairPlay proposal, the CRTC would have created an “Internet Piracy Review Agency” that would maintain a blacklist of websites accused of pirating digital content. The CRTC would have been in charge of ensuring that internet providers block access to those websites.

“The jobs of hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work in the creative sector are at risk as a result of increasing online piracy, from songwriters and set builders to makeup artists and local news reporters,” the coalition said in a press release earlier this year.

“Payments from legitimate streaming services, broadcasters, distributors, and exhibitors help support these artists and creators.”

The CRTC’s decision may not be the end of attempts by Canadian media companies to see some sort of website-blocking regime put into place, said Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa.

“Bell will surely continue to pursue its proposal in alternate venues,” Geist wrote on his blog.

“Thousands of Canadians stepped up in the spring to ensure that the (CRTC) was aware of the legal, technical, and policy concerns with site blocking without a court order. In the months ahead, they may need to speak out yet again.”

If you’re playing The Division 2 this weekend you might have noticed you can’t pet the dogs. You can shoot them, of course – but you can’t pet them.

This has come as something of a surprise given you can pet dogs in other Ubisoft games, such as Watchdogs 2 (of course) and Far Cry: New Dawn. You can even pet dogs in Assassin’s Creed 3. So to find The Division 2 doesn’t let you let the good dog know they’re a good dog is more than a little sad.

It turns out, there are plenty of people who would really like Ubisoft to let you pet the dogs in The Division 2. I’ve seen multiple posts on reddit and social media calling on the mega-publisher to patch in dog petting. “Why on Earth can’t we pet the damn dogs in this game?!” wrote exacerbated redditor Raddz5000. “They come up to you looking all sad, just staring at you, wanting some pets. But nooOOOooo, we can only stare back. We should be able to pet them, give them a snack from our food resources, maybe they’ll follow us around a bit, giving moral support. It’s 2019 now and we still can’t pet the dogs. Literally unplayable.”

You can pet the dog in Far Cry: New Dawn pic.twitter.com/DJmkny5g5w

— Can You Pet the D???????o???????g???????? (@CanYouPetTheDog) March 5, 2019

“Let me pet the dogs,” wrote redditor sketchygio. “A virus has been unleashed on humanity, anarchy rules, and man’s best friend is left to wander the streets. We are allowed to shoot them like some sick maniac, but we cannot pet them to let them know it’s all gonna be OK? Absurd!

“I demand the ability to pet any and all of the good boys and girls I might encounter on the streets. Extra points if I can give them belly rubs.”

You can pet the dog in Watch Dogs 2 pic.twitter.com/enlDhyR8ho

— Can You Pet the D???????o???????g???????? (@CanYouPetTheDog) March 15, 2019

The complaint that struck a chord with me, though, was this reddit post from user eoddc5:

“I’m sick of passing 100s of homeless dogs all day long, and not being able to do anything with them,” they said. “They just run away, like I’m some scary monster. I’m not; I’m a Division Agent and here to save the world. And those pups are part of that world.
“It would be SO amazing and MUCH MORE IMMERSIVE if we could earn their trust, give them food supplies, pet them.

“I’m not asking to have a dog companion whatsoever, that’s not within this game. But you have 100s of small commendation tasks to take care of, I’m sure we can add one for being kind to the dogs.”

You can pet the dog in Assassin's Creed III pic.twitter.com/iEfIwg8hzF

— Can You Pet the D???????o???????g???????? (@CanYouPetTheDog) March 6, 2019

What’s interesting about eoddc5’s post is they go on to talk about why it would be realistic to interact with a dog during combat, as opposed to killing it.

“I was deployed to Iraq in 2006 for a year, a stray pack of dogs would hang around the base I was at for a few months, and one would come into base and hang out all the time. We took care of him, he slept in the large indoor assembly area (when he wanted to). And when he was attacked and mauled by another dog out there, we had called in one of our SF medic friends from 15 mins away to perform surgery and suture him up.

:: The best PS4 external hard drives in 2019

“Dogs are awesome, and frequently in combat zones (and anywhere else in the world) there are many that are displaced and enjoy the companionship of humans (and what comes with it, food, shelter, safety, love). Similarly, a high stress environment like combat means that lots of servicemen and women bond with dogs or cats because it helps ease their mind or take their mind off the reality of war, and break up the monotony of combat day after day. Many have snuck home with their dogs off 1+ year bonding, and there are official adoption processes for these situations now.

“So… yeah petting a dog in this game would make sense, and would be a fun gesture, and break up the monotony (both for gaming, and for our agent who kills 500+ people a week), esp considering it’s in other games and even other Ubisoft titles.”

Makes you think!

You cannot pet the dog in The Division 2 pic.twitter.com/p0GGXWpDpY

— Can You Pet the D???????o???????g???????? (@CanYouPetTheDog) March 12, 2019

Anyway, if you haven’t already seen it, there’s a wonderful Twitter account devoted to video games that let you pet dogs, and its creator wrote a lovely article over on FanByte.com lamenting The Division 2’s lack of dog petting.

“The Division 2’s dogs are indeed unpettable, but they are not invincible. Should you lack a beating heart, it is easy to fire a few shots into one of the game’s many homeless canines, downing them with a sickening yelp followed by cold silence. And since ambient wildlife often wanders into firefights, it is entirely possible – and likely inevitable – that players will inadvertently execute a dog during their time conquering the ruins of D.C. You cannot purposely pet these dogs, but you can accidentally kill them.

“This unsettling dichotomy crystallises in an early mission. Off to the side, behind impenetrable metal grating sits a crestfallen pooch, whimpering in grief over a fallen friend.

“These dogs are carefully arranged to elicit an emotional response from any player who stops to notice them. Your first instinct may be to help these poor things, but the the gate stands firm, guarding a static diorama of misery.”

Yelp. Ubisoft, if you’re listening, perhaps you could patch The Division 2 to let us interact with the dogs.

Or at least let us give a dog a drone.

Fewer than 40 per cent of companies in Canada and the U.S. look at pay by gender, making it difficult to make progress on advancing women to leadership and management roles, according to a report from the Canada-U.S. group created by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ivanka Trump.

The fifth and final report from the Canada-U.S. Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders also showed that nearly half (48 per cent) of Canadian companies don’t even have an accurate picture of the number of women at the management level.

Watch: Justin Trudeau urges gender equality beyond pay parity. Story continues below.

Just over a third of Canadian companies have plans in place to advance women to senior leadership roles.

The report said surveys with human resource officers across Canada and the U.S. showed only half of companies are even focusing on diversifying their leadership teams, meaning prioritizing women isn’t a goal for them at all.

It also noted a “critical gap” between intentions and actions. In oral interviews conducted with HR leaders, most said they supported diversity and inclusion.

However, companies are failing to treat the advancement of women in the workplace like they would any other business priority, report co-author and T&T Supermarkets CEO Tina Lee said.

“If we have a business problem like costs are increasing, and then we measure what our labour costs are, or what our production costs are, and then we will measure it deeply, we will track against it, we will implement action items to kind of fix that problem, and then we’ll do it on a quarterly basis,” she said.

But workplaces aren’t actually doing the work on advancing women because they aren’t even measuring how women can improve their bottom line.

“It’s really too bad,” she said. “People just don’t really realize (involving more women) has a real financial and business performance return.”

The report combined two research studies. One is a survey including the perspectives of 400 human resources officers in Canada and the U.S., and the other is a survey of more than 22,000 university-educated men and women in 34 countries.

Also On HuffPost:

It’s almost time for the royal wedding, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will tie the knot in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19.

People across the Commonwealth are planning parties to watch the event, and if you’re one of them, there’s no reason why you can’t throw a tea party to get in the spirit of it all.

After all, it’s what the Queen would do, right?

But how, exactly, do you throw a proper English tea party? Unsurprisingly, customs are important, history is important, and there are rules to follow.

Traditional afternoon tea has been around a long time

“The traditional afternoon English tea was established in the Victorian era (1837-1901),” Seattle event planner Jennifer Porter told HuffPost Canada via email. “While there is some formality to this daily ritual, it’s also meant to be a casual conversation amongst friends, so keep it light when setting a tea party for guests.”

The tradition had a practical inspiration

“During the 19th century, it was the custom to take an early breakfast and a late supper,” Arielle Berze, community manager for the luxury tea blender Tealeaves, told HuffPost Canada via email. “Anna Maria Stanhope, the seventh Duchess of Bedford (1783-1857), found that this long gap between meals resulted in a ‘sinking feeling’ at about four o’clock, and so invented afternoon tea as a way to fill the gap.”

You’ll need tea, of course

Black tea is de rigueur in the United Kingdom. “Darjeeling is a common afternoon tea variety,” Porter said. The hostess should serve the first cup, Kristin Contino, who runs the blog Royally Broke, told HuffPost Canada via email, but guests can refill for themselves after that.

For black tea, water should be heated to 99 C, Berze said. “Preheat the teapot with warm water. This will prevent the water from cooling down and preventing a perfect infusion when you start steeping the tea,” she said.

But it’s not just about the type of tea

It’s important to get the tea right, but it also matters how you serve it. Don’t just grab that box of Red Rose or Tetley. “For a proper tea, you need to serve it from individual pots with loose leaf tea,” Contino said. “No tea bags allowed!” Use one teaspoon of loose tea per cup of water, Berze said, and steep black tea for two-to-three minutes.

Get the right snacks

Other classic British snacks are a key part of afternoon tea, because it’s not just about the beverages. Think bread and butter, scones with clotted cream and jam, and finger sandwiches like watercress and cucumber, Porter said.

Make those sandwiches cute

Speaking of tiny sandwiches, those are one of the most iconic parts of British tea. If you do them, do them right — Brits are pickier than a toddler about bread crusts on a tea sandwich. “Crusts should be cut off the sandwiches and then they should be cut into small triangles, squares or rectangles,” Contino said.

And have sweets to finish things up

No party is complete without dessert, and a British tea party is no exception. You can have a bit of fun with this one. “Mini cakes, tarts, cookies, and such are all appropriate and there isn’t a standard kind of sweet that should be offered,” Contino said.

Serve it properly

Don’t just throw those sandwiches on a plate and call it done. “A tiered serving tray for the sandwiches and cakes is standard for a proper English tea and makes a beautiful presentation,” Contino said.

And you might care about the order. “The correct order of eating the variety of treats served is to partake in the savouries first, then scones and then sweets,” Berze said. “However, many like to eat the scones first, while still warm, and then move on to savouries.”

Set the mood

Bring out your best fine china, including saucers and small plates for desserts. Have proper teacups, not mugs. Use cocktail-sized napkins, not big dinner ones, Porter said. Have proper tea spoons, and make sure you have creamer or milk and sugar cubes — not packets, Contino said — out for that tea.

But don’t get too matchy-matchy

If you don’t have a full matching set of china for tea, don’t worry about it — it’s nice to have, but it’s not required. “China doesn’t need to match,” Contino said. “In fact, it’s fun and a bit quirky to have mismatching teacups.”

TORONTO — The Canadian Real Estate Association says it will soon be adding historical sales data to its realtor.ca website.

The industry group said Thursday the information will be included along with new listings and be accessible without a password.

CREA spokesman Pierre Leduc says the data will only be posted if the regional real estate board requests that it be uploaded. Several boards have already expressed interest, but no timeline has been given on when this information will be online.

The group says it still needs to ensure that the move complies with each province’s real estate laws, including whether the latest sold prices can be posted without a password.

Leduc says the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), which is the largest in the country, has not requested for their information to be shared. The association noted that it will not be providing any other data such as conditional sale prices; withdrawn, expired, suspended or terminated offers or whether a property was purchased through a co-operating commission.

“Realtors, brokers and boards have been asking us to add this information to realtor.ca property listings,” Leduc said in an email.

“There are other sites in Canada and the U.S. that currently offer this information. In the past six months we have added information to property listings such as neighbourhood and school catchment areas, and we’re launching the latest iteration of realtor.ca in a few weeks.”

TREB recently began permitting sold data to be published on password-protected websites after it fought for seven years in court to shield this information from the public.

The Competition Bureau alleged that preventing the publication of the data was anti-competitive. The board had argued that the information should be protected due to privacy and copyright concerns.

In August, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the case.

TREB says it was not consulted about CREA’s decision and that it still needs to review it.

While plenty of stars have been showing their political stripes proudly over the past couple of years, Shania Twain generally hasn’t been one of them

The Windsor, Ont.-born country singer changed that tune, however, in an interview with the Guardian released on Sunday in which she noted that she would have opted for Donald Trump had she had the opportunity to vote in the 2016 election.

“I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest,” she told the publication. “Do you want straight or polite? Not that you shouldn’t be able to have both. If I were voting, I just don’t want bullshit. I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent. And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?”

Not everyone would agree with that kind of sentiment, particularly Shania’s gay fan base. The star is a longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights, and was a guest judge on an episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” just last week. That same community, however, is one that has seen a number of rights dismantled under the Trump administration.

“Shania Twain has broken our gay hearts,” wrote Out.com about the interview.

And there were plenty of other people who agreed.

Obviously taken by surprise, Twain did what any good Canadian would do — she went on an apology tour.

Whether or not the apology will be sufficient for fans remains to be seen, but she’ll find out soon enough as she embarks on a new tour this summer in support of her latest album, “Now.”

MONTREAL — Vanessa Baratta is cut up about purchasing organic produce.

“Price factors into it now that I’m a homeowner. Beforehand I didn’t really care,” said the 29-year-old urban planner, reaching hesitantly for a package of pesticide-free mixed greens.

“I used to go with mostly organic, but it’s much more expensive.”

Baratta tries to eat and drink with an environmental conscience. “But there’s other things that I’d rather spend my money on than organic fruits and vegetables.”

Watch: Organic foods linked to lower cancer risk (story continues below)

Experts peg the price premium for organic food products at between 20 and 60 per cent. All but one item — spinach — out of 17 were at least 20 per cent more expensive in the organic section, according to a 2016 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Eggs and milk tended to be among the costliest.

But fret not, frugal fruit finder. Seasonal fluctuations and a longer shelf life for some products, on top of the time-tested tactics of buying in bulk and hewing toward house brands, mean organic consumption doesn’t have to suck your savings dry.

Several organic and conventionally grown items consistently boast comparable prices — “The Big Five,” as dubbed by Pat Pessotto, vice-president of merchandising and procurement at Longo’s, a southern Ontario grocery chain.

Apples, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and pre-packed salads make up the bunch. They’re often locally grown — meaning lower transport costs — and have longer storage times, making them less susceptible to price fluctuation.

“Follow the season and follow what Mother Nature is offering up for that time of year,” Pessotto said. “Personally, I like snacking on organic carrots.”

At a Provigo grocery in Montreal, a 900-gram bag of organic baby carrots cost $5.99, 20 per cent more than the $4.99 non-organic package.

Meanwhile, organic bell peppers and bananas cost $3 each and $1.29 per pound, respectively, versus $1.67 each and 79 cents per pound for their conventionally grown brethren — a top-up of 80 per cent and 63 per cent.

When produce is in season, the price difference drops due to greater supply, noted Andrew Telfer, vice-president of health and wellness a the Retail Council of Canada.

The price premium derives partly from higher costs for farmers who swear off products such as synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge and genetic engineering as well as growth hormones and antibiotics. But it also comes from processors and retailers who must ensure organic products don’t rub leaf by jowl with non-organic items during storage or transportation — all necessary to earn organic certification from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

“Preservatives, colouring agents, synthetic fertilizers are used in the food system not because the human diet needs them but to benefit the food system on reduced costs,” said Tia Loftsgard, executive director of the Canada Organic Trade Association.

Loftsgard also stressed the challenge of price comparisons, citing package sizes, “seasonality” and ingredient differences.

Charlotte Vallaeys, a policy analyst with Consumers Union in the U.S., said that “a lot of the cost that consumers pay does not go to the farmer; it goes to processing, and it goes to marketing the food.”

Buy house-brand organics

One way to skirt that premium is to toss a house-brand organic item in your cart rather than a non-organic branded one, she said. Adopting a coupon-collecting habit is another option. Buying in bulk — including direct from the farm — and growing your own greens, from kale to coriander, can also cut costs while still yielding the benefits touted by organic champions.

About 66 per cent of shoppers buy organic products weekly, according to the organic trade association. That number rises to 73 per cent among millennial customers, with the numbers continuing to grow, said Dan Branson, senior director of produce for Loblaw Companies Ltd.

“I really think of organics being a lifestyle choice for a lot of people who are thinking about their health and wellness,” he said. Products under the President’s Choice house label have mushroomed into the hundreds over the past decade.

“I remember when I was a kid, it used to be a huge excitement for us to get a Spanish clementine and now we have mandarins and clementines available all year long, both organic and non-organic.”