Study shows value of equipment in protecting the vulnerable, including those in nursing homes
This article was written by Kate Allen and was published in the Toronto Star on December 16, 2025.
Ontario’s decision to mandate air conditioning in all nursing home residents’ room saved dozens of lives, new research estimates — and could have saved more than 130 more had the requirement come a decade earlier.
The study shows how air conditioning has become “lifesaving medical equipment,” experts say, and is relevant well beyond nursing homes as provinces, cities and towns grapple with how to protect vulnerable residents as heat waves intensify in the climate crisis.
“Air conditioning really is no longer a luxury for nursing home residents, but a lifesaving tool,” said Gabrielle Katz, a medical student at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and an author of the study, which was published online Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Residents of nursing homes are particularly vulnerable to heat because they are more likely to have chronic diseases, cognitive impairments, limited mobility and other health issues.
But they also benefit from living in facilities that are staffed by health care professionals and regulated by the government — unlike older adults living in the community, said Dr. Nathan Stall, a clinician scientist and geriatrics lead at Sinai Health, and another of the study’s authors. In the U.S., older adults make up 39 per cent of all heatrelated deaths.
“When you think about all the people who are living in buildings or older homes that don’t have access to air conditioning — it’s something that worries me,” said Stall.
Stall cited a City of Toronto pilot program that distributed roughly 500 air conditioners to lowincome seniors last summer, and another in Portland, Ore., that has installed more than 15,000.
The study is “concrete evidence that shows that investing in air conditioning saves lives,” he said.
The researchers looked at more than 73,000 deaths of people living in licensed Ontario nursing homes, all of which occurred during warm months between 2010 and 2023. They examined whether those deaths happened on or soon after an extremely hot day, and whether or not the residence of the person who died had air conditioning.
Before 2020, more than half of the province’s nursing homes lacked air conditioning in residents’ rooms. In July of that year — amid a blistering heat wave, the COVID19 pandemic and pressure from advocates — Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government announced that all nursing homes would be required to cool residents’ rooms, and gave the facilities two years to comply.
That turned out to be a “tremendous success in public policy,” Stall said.
Residents in nursing homes without air conditioning had eight per cent higher odds of dying on extremely hot days compared to those who did have it, the study found.
The researchers simulated what mortality in nursing homes would have looked like had Ontario never implemented the rule, and estimated that the air conditioning mandate averted 33 deaths that would have occurred on extreme heat days between 2021 and 2023.
They also simulated what mortality would have looked like had the rule been rolled out in 2010 — and estimated there would have been 131 fewer deaths than actually occurred.
Five years after Ontario announced the requirement for nursing homes, it remains the only province in Canada with such a rule, according to the study.
“That really calls into question the safety of other Canadian nursing homes,” Katz said.
“I think our results also raise concerns for other vulnerable populations across Canada who don’t have access to air conditioning,” Katz added, noting that renters and those living on low incomes or in older homes are more likely to lack cooling in their homes.
Dr. Samantha Green, family physician at Unity Health Toronto who was not involved in the study, said the research was “incredible” at showing how effective air conditioning is as a health tool.
The number of lives it saved, according to the data in the paper, is “on par with a lot of medical interventions,” making it clear that air conditioning is itself “lifesaving medical equipment,” Green said.
Researchers found that residents in nursing homes without air conditioning had eight per cent higher odds of dying on extremely hot days compared to those who did have it
This opinion was written by David Coletto, Oksana Kishchuk, and Eddie Sheppard, and was published by the Toronto Star on October 26, 2025.
If you want to understand Canada in 2025, don’t look up, look down. Before focusing on ideals like purpose, selfexpression or “living your best life,” most Canadians are doing something much more basic: trying to make ends meet and keep their families steady.
For the past year at Abacus Data, we’ve described a national mood that moved from scarcity (“Is there enough?”) to precarity (“Will we be OK?”).
Precarity is that uneasy feeling that even if you can pay the bills this month, you’re not sure you’ll be able to next month. It shrinks time horizons and makes prudence feel like a survival skill. In our latest national survey of 4,501 adults (Oct. 915), we tested where people’s attention really sits. Borrowing from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we asked which of five goals best describes what they’re most focused on right now: meeting basic needs (food, housing, daily essentials); keeping the family safe, healthy and financially stable; strengthening relationships; feeling respected and confident; or growing and living a meaningful, joyful life.
The answers are blunt. Twentyseven per cent chose basic needs as their top focus. Another thirtyeight per cent named safety, health and financial stability. Add those together and two in three Canadians are concentrating on the two lowest rungs of Maslow’s ladder. Belonging (eight per cent), esteem (nine per cent) and selfactualization (18 per cent) are still in the mix, but they’re not where most people’s heads are.
This is exactly what precarity looks like. When life feels unstable, attention narrows to focus on stability. People don’t stop wanting meaning or connection; but they are just trying to get or stay on life’s first base. It’s a reminder that we’re living in a country more focused on endurance than ambition and that has big implications for business, politics, and community life.
In practical terms, precarity means a young professional delays buying a condo because her job is “temp until further notice,” or a unionized worker votes against a tentative agreement that offers a 30 per cent raise because there aren’t sufficient protections against worries his job might be automated in a few years.
For a retiree, it might mean skipping a winter trip or putting off a home repair because a fixed income no longer stretches as far as it used to, or the value of their home, which they spent a lifetime paying off, will sink in value and the next grocery or utility hike could upset a carefully balanced budget.
The deeper story isn’t in the numbers, though; it’s in how life stage shapes perspective. Younger Canadians tend to look up the ladder, thinking about growth, learning and purpose — but are quickly pushed down when reality hits. As people age, attention shifts downward.
The push and pull of mortgages, kids and aging parents keep midlife Canadians focused on security, and by retirement, safety clearly dominates.
For many baby boomers, especially those 60 and over, the focus is less on chasing new goals and more on protecting their health, savings and a sense of stability. Even with relative financial comfort, many feel the fragility of fixed incomes and rising costs.
Gender doesn’t change the story much: men and women alike are mostly preoccupied with keeping life steady. No matter who you are, the instinct right now is to hold the ground you’ve got.
Income and education still define how high up the ladder people can look, but what stands out now is the emotional distance between those rungs. Unsurprisingly, for lowerincome Canadians, life feels close to the edge. Among higher earners, there’s more room to think about growth, learning and confidence. Education mirrors that divide: those with a university degree are less preoccupied with survival and more invested in progress and purpose. These contrasts aren’t surprising, but they remind us that optimism often depends on stability — and that a message about hope or ambition can sound inspiring to some and tonedeaf to others.
Mindset plays a role too. People who believe the country is heading in the right direction are more focused on connection, belonging and confidence. Those who think we’re on the wrong track are looking down, focused on the essentials. It’s a telling pattern. In an age of precarity, even confidence has become a scarce resource.
Identity and background still shape how Canadians see their place on the ladder. Many newcomers and racialized Canadians, despite facing barriers, are more likely to talk about growth and belonging than just getting by. Some of that reflects age and geography — they’re younger, more urban and often chasing opportunity rather than defending it — but it also hints at optimism. The idea of Canada as a place to build and become something better still resonates, even as others worry the system is slipping. Where many longtime residents feel anxious about losing ground, newcomers are often focused on gaining it.
Politics, too, reveals where people’s attention rests. Conservatives and Liberals tend to cluster around safety: steady jobs, stable families, predictable futures. New Democrats and Greens, whose supporters are younger and more likely to rent, lean toward the basics: affordability, housing and daytoday survival. Each party is, in its own way, speaking to a different rung of the national hierarchy, one reason political debate often feels like parallel conversations about entirely different needs.
A few caveats keep us honest. First, this shows what’s most on people’s minds right now — it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re struggling or going without. Choosing “safety” doesn’t mean your family is unsafe; it means that, right now, safety is what you’re thinking about. A household in the top bracket can still feel precarious and plan defensively.
Second, our Maslow mapping is a lens, not a law. Human motivation is messier than a tidy pyramid. People chase meaning while juggling bills and nurture relationships while updating resumés.
Finally, perception is its own reality when it comes to behaviour. Whether the wobble is financial, social or emotional, feeling precarious changes how people work, shop, vote and plan.
So, what should leaders draw from this?
If you manage people, earn the right to talk about purpose by delivering solid ground first: pay that keeps up, predictable schedules, benefits that cover the gaps, especially health and mental health, and managers who respect people’s time.
If you sell to services or things, design for value and predictability; community and status will matter again, but right now products that reduce risk and remove friction win.
If you’re seeking office, build a coalition around security that enables aspiration: steady housing supply, working health care, dependable infrastructure and relief from price whiplash paired with a credible path up the ladder through skills, innovation and climate action.
In the end, this isn’t a story about a country that has given up on meaning; it’s a country that has learned to keep one hand on the guardrail.
The hierarchy hasn’t disappeared. People still want connection, respect and growth, but the order of operations has changed. And here’s the uncomfortable truth: precarity and uncertainty may be our default for the foreseeable future.
Maybe we adapt and get better at deciding under constant uncertainty.
Maybe we grow numb to the wobble and lower our expectations. We don’t know.
What we do know, as pollsters who ask thousands of Canadians hundreds of questions every week is this: mindset is already reshaping priorities like how people work, what they buy and the policies they’ll accept.
Leaders who take that seriously, who reduce volatility where they can, reassure anxious minds and hearts, and speak honestly about the risks where they can’t, will earn trust. Until the ground feels steady again, the smartest promise isn’t a moon shot. It’s the steady hand that makes tomorrow feel possible.
This opinion was written by Shellene Drakestull and was published in the Toronto Star on October 22, 2025.
Over the weekend, I was digging my fall decor out of my storage room. While doing that, I lugged out bins of Christmas decorations of all shapes and sizes. My 10 year old daughter traipsed downstairs and saw what I was doing.
“Mommy, can we get new decorations this year?” she asked, looking at the bins surrounding me.
Each year she tries to convince me that we need more bells and baubles. This year she’s been campaigning for an inflatable Santa for our front lawn because our current set up looks “tragic.”
Christmas comes but once a year, so is it necessary to buy new decorations when we already have a storage room full?
I can’t blame her for trying. Consumption, in general, is getting out of hand and all of us are to blame. While there are some people who are extremely conservative when it comes to spending, many of us do go overboard. From boxes upon boxes of holiday decor to people owning tens of Stanley tumblers or hundreds of dollars’ worth of beauty products, why do we feel it necessary to consume so much?
We often don’t think about the impacts our overconsumption has on our climate or the people we share the planet with. I’m just as guilty because I’m selfish and sometimes think more about what I want rather than how my spending can negatively affect the world I live in.
For instance, my trusty cellphone. I don’t go anywhere without it. If I leave it at home, I’m lost — how will my family get in touch with me? How will I know where I’m supposed to be? How will I read my book or play some timewasting game while I wait at physiotherapy?
This past summer, my phone contract was up after two years. I had the option to buy out my old phone (that worked perfectly fine) at a couple of hundred bucks or get a new phone for $0.
Guess what I chose?
At that point, I didn’t realize that my consumption — buying something that I didn’t truly need — was impacting people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Coltan, a rare mineral that is needed for our cellphones, is mined in the DRC, where a war is currently raging and more than 6.9 million people have been displaced. Children the age of my daughter are forced into dangerous mines to extract the mineral.
The sale of coltan to western tech companies is funding M23, a Rwandanbacked rebel paramilitary group. According to Amnesty International and the United Nations, M23 has raided hospitals, committed sexual violence including gang rapes and killed innocent civilians.
We don’t hear a lot about how our desires can destroy lives elsewhere. We buy fast fashion (I’m guilty, too) and rationalize the suffering of those who make our trendy clothes because we want what we want. The David Suzuki Foundation found that globally, “people consume 80 billon new pieces of clothing every year — a 400 per cent increase from 20 years ago.” The fast fashion industry is the second largest water consumer after agriculture.
The planet is struggling under the weight of our wants. We’ve been conditioned to think that we need more — and we need it now.
My 13 year old daughter recently got into thrifting. I love to see the joy she gets from rifling through the racks and racks of preloved items. While I appreciate her finding ways to sustainably shop, the overconsumption of secondhand clothes needs to be controlled. Weekly or monthly clothing hauls aren’t normal. We can only wear so many pieces of clothing.
What’s normal is consuming what we need and no more. Because our overconsumption is wasteful and it’s hurting all of us — from our neighbours, who are overheating in October, to the people we’ve never met in Africa and Asia.
We all need to do better because sometimes enough really is enough.
When considering whether to join the carfree movement, it’s not just a money decision — it’s also a mindset decision
This article was written by Lora Grady and was published in the Toronto Star on September 29, 2025.
For nearly 30 years, Tim Millan got around Toronto by car. He loved the convenience of owning a vehicle, but his “soulsucking” commute was the final straw — 18 months ago he gave up his beloved Toyota 4Runner to go carfree. Now, the 54yearold teacher estimates he’s saving around $500 a month by not owning a vehicle — and he has zero regrets.
Owning a car is a huge expense for Canadian households. According to a 2025 report from Ratehub, the average cost of owning a car is $1,370 per month (including car payments, gas, parking, insurance and maintenance). A recent report from carsharing marketplace Turo found that car ownership costs have risen nine per cent since last year, and experts predict that number will continue to grow. The Turo report also found that 42 per cent of Canadians have had to cut back on spending in other areas to keep up with the costs of owning their vehicle.
When considering whether to join the carfree movement, it’s not just a simple money decision, says Credit Canada CEO Bruce Sellery — it’s also a mindset decision.
Consider your circumstances
The first thing to consider is your values, Sellery says.
“Some people love cars and they love to drive. Other people simply do not care.”
The next thing to consider is your circumstances. “I have to have a car because my kid has activities and not having a car would be too much for me, personally, as a parent,” he says.
Millan acknowledges that going carfree is easier for him now that his kids are in their 20s. “Our kids were in sports and different activities all over the city,” he says. “It would have been very challenging to try to get around (without a car).”
Another consideration is your daily commute. “It’s all well and good to say you’re going to go carfree when your commute is 15 minutes by bike,” Sellery says. A twohour commute that involves numerous transit changes is very different.
For Millan, being able to go carfree meant finding a job closer to home. “I was working in a part of the city that was very difficult to get to by transit, and it was just a little bit too far to cycle or walk,” he says. He now walks to work, which takes around 20 minutes each way — and costs nothing.
Next consider how having a car impacts your mental wellbeing. “Some people feel better having a car,” Sellery says. “It gives them a feeling of freedom, and that’s not nothing — that counts.” Other people feel stressed about owning a car and the associated costs.
Finally, Sellery says, you should be honest about your needs versus your wants. “You really need transportation, for sure, but do you really need a car?”
Matt Hands, Ratehub’s vicepresident of insurance, says going carfree works best for people with remote or flexible work arrangements who don’t have to deal with regular suburban commutes, and households without frequent family obligations that require car travel outside the city.
Blair Kenneth Adamache, a 61yearold investor and Toronto resident, gave up his car less than a month ago. For years, he commuted to Markham from Pickering by car. In the early ’90s, he started biking to work three to four times a week. He and his wife had young kids and only one car, so she would use it on the days he cycled.
For the past 15 years, Adamache drove a used German sports car — and it got expensive. He was spending $100 a month on parking where he now lives, near Yonge and Eglinton, plus gas, insurance and maintenance. “When you own a 20yearold sports car, you’re always asking what’s going to break next,” he says.
At the beginning of September, Adamache decided to ditch his car and go carfree for six months to see how it goes.
Do a costbenefit analysis
On the math side, it’s important to do a costbenefit calculation, Sellery says. Gather facts around your car expenses, including the car payment, insurance, maintenance, parking and gas. Ratehub’s report found that Canadians spend an average of $203 per month on gas, $200 on parking, $143 on car insurance and $79 on vehicle maintenance, while around $202 per month goes toward interest on car payments.
Most financial experts recommend keeping transportation costs between 15 and 20 per cent of your takehome pay, says Hands.
Next, take some time to think about how you use the car and how often you use it. “Maybe you work from home, but your parents live north of the city and you want to go see them once a month and it’s sure helpful to have a car,” Sellery says.
People’s needs, time, convenience and finances all play into how people get around, says Teresa Di Felice, assistant vicepresident of government and community relations for CAA South Central Ontario. “If you’re driving your child to hockey and you’ve got all the equipment, it can be a little difficult to do that on something like transit,” she says. Think about how your needs can be best served on a regular basis, and explore how you can save money by still owning a car while using alternatives for some of your trips.
It’s also important to consider whether you own a paidoff vehicle and are avoiding newcar depreciation. “If you can offset costs through ridesharing or delivery work, or if moving and selling costs outweigh shortterm savings, keeping your car is smarter,” Hands says. Ultimately, he adds, the decision hinges on whether your transportation needs justify the $1,370 average monthly ownership cost versus transit and ridesharing options.
Once you’ve looked at your expenses and use, you can consider the alternative options, including cycling, ride sharing, car sharing, car rental and the TTC. Sellery says to get creative with your thinking: Could you share a car with a sibling or a best friend? Can you carpool?
The TTC charges $156 for an adult monthly pass. Bike Share Toronto charges $105 plus HST for an annual pass that includes unlimited 30minute rides. Then there are carsharing services like Communauto, which offers free monthly membership plans and charges from $13 per hour for a car rental.
If you’re thinking about going carfree, it’s a good idea to tally up exactly how much you spent on owing a car in the past year (including maintenance and repair costs) to see how much you could potentially save and reinvest elsewhere to pay off debts, contribute to an RRSP or reach other financial goals.
Consider different transportation options
Millan has rented a car twice; once for a work retreat in Orillia and another time for a trip to Quebec. He occasionally takes the streetcar if it’s raining or snowing and uses his Presto pass to pay by trip. Otherwise, he walks or cycles to his destinations. He has an annual Bike Share Toronto membership and uses it to visit friends in the west end. He also uses it sometimes when he’s running late. “I can grab a bike and just shave 10 minutes off of my walk,” he says.
Maintenance and fuel are probably the biggest costs associated with owning a car, Di Felice says, adding that keeping your car in good shape helps keep costs low. Remove sports equipment, shoes and other items from the trunk and back seat when you don’t need them to reduce drag on your car, which will help you burn less gas. You should also remove bike racks or cargo racks from your vehicle’s roof when you’re not going to need them. Ensuring your tires are properly inflated can help increase fuel efficiency, too.
Hands says it’s worth shopping around annually for car insurance, as rates vary widely between providers. You can also lower premiums by increasing your deductibles, choosing vehicles with high safety ratings and low theft risk, and bundling your auto policy with home or tenant insurance for added discounts.
You can also save on gas through some credit card and loyalty rewards programs, Di Felice says. “Sometimes people don’t even know all the loyalty programs that they’re carrying around in their wallet, whether it’s CAA or other cards,” she says, adding that CAA members can save three cents per litre on gas at Shell.
Since giving up his car, Adamache racks up 5,000 to 10,000 steps a day just running errands. He mostly rides his bike to get around and uses the TTC during bad weather. He’s used Uber once so far, adding, “I’ve got $200 a month I could use on Uber and not feel guilty.”
He has family members who live in Pickering, and says public transit to Durham is a nightmare, so he’ll see how things work out over the next six months. He also recently did a Canadian Tire trip using the TTC to buy drapes and charcoal and some other “crazy heavy stuff” and thought, “That’s kind of over the edge of what I can do.” He says he could always rent a car, and that his best friend owns a pickup truck.
If Adamache does decide to buy a car again, he says, it would be a Toyota Corolla this time instead of a sports car.
For now, he says, being without a car feels like a big relief — and it’s helped him get ahead in other areas. “I said to myself, `I got rid of that car. I should do my taxes now!’ ”
This article was written by Anakana Schofield and was published in the Toronto Star on August 13, 2025.
It is a melancholy object and mighty affront for those who must suffer the suffocation of a heat wave, which currently is most people in Canada and increasingly every single person on planet Earth.
I think it is agreed that, like our longsuffering friends the lobsters, we are all going to boil together but the question is: How can we comfort each other inside life’s bubbling pan?
Once there might have existed those who come to life in the heat, those who rejoice at the mere sight of the sun and those, like me, who manage to get heatstroke and seconddegree sunburns while staying inside, with the curtains closed and the lights turned off. Yet when polling the plain people of the internet this week, I found no one who likes heatwaves.
During a recent stretch in Vancouver, I called my local, heat expert bestie Mome Gul, who was born in Pakistan, raised in Saudi Arabia — she was cooking! On a hot stove! “I love it. I come to life in the heat,” she said between loud sizzles of onion. “I am dying,” I told her. “Something is very wrong with me. My head is leaving my body.”
“I like the temperature to be 25 to 30 C. I feel alive. I think I like heat because I have cheated heat. I lived in Saudi Arabia, which has air conditioning and electricity is heavily subsidized. Put on long flowing, cotton clothes,” she advised. “People make the mistake of thinking the less clothes you wear the cooler you’ll be. Not true.”
Even my son was perplexed, as I staggered about warning him, I might throw up … until I did throw up. “What’s wrong with you, Mammy? You are turning into a physical wreck!” This discombobulation carried on as long it remained above 25 C. If I tried to exit my apartment I couldn’t make it to the end of the block, without feeling my legs give way. If I made it to the supermarket, I had to hold on to the fixtures as if I was on a rushhour bus. My brain could not even form words properly and I wasn’t sure where I was until I stuck my two Hobbity arms into the meat cooler like a zombie and managed to cool down a degree or two.
Finally, since it takes a village to defeat me, a large fuzzy bumble bee entered my shoe and stung me on the toe. I felt like my foot had been amputated with a hot axe, so I laid down and did nothing but eat emergency cherries for 36 hours.
A week later, my GP (gasp! — that rare and highly endangered species) took my blood pressure. I was surprised to learn I have the blood pressure of a six-to-eight-yea-rold child rather than Pompey the Great. On the upside, I could now eat salt and vinegar chips, drink electrolytes and put my legs up in the air. Obviously, a salty novelist is precisely the person to come up with the necessary interventions needed to deliver us to September alive.
And so I laid with my legs up and thought: short of inventing a time machine to excise the hottest hours of the day, I see no path forward for those of us with small veins, bad tempers and hot flashes who do very poorly in the heat. Yet we must do something. Forest fires are raging and workers must fight them. Dishwashers are trapped in local kitchens with no air conditioning. Construction workers are dissolving high above us. Food delivery cyclists are bringing the airconditioned their supper. The poor and our most vulnerable disproportionately die from this heat. Even supplying air conditioners lands them with bills they cannot pay.
Still, my modest proposal for this extended festival of scorching is we should take inspiration from our ursine friends Yogi Bear or Hank the Tank and do an inverse hibernation between July and October.
If this fails: keep an eye on elderlies, the swaying and the bad tempered during these trying times. Offer to shop for them, wave fans on them or buy them air conditioners, and — vitally — give up your seat on transit.
The heat was so bad here recently even my son was feeling weird by the end of the day. If only I could take him to a 24hour library, or an allnight swimming pool. I could just feed him frozen grapes. Maybe that will help.
Keep an eye on elderlies, the swaying and the bad tempered during these trying times. Offer to shop for them, wave fans on them or buy them air conditioners, and — vitally — give up your seat on transit
This opinion was written by Hilary Faktor and was published in the Globe & Mail on July 19, 2025.
Main Street in Flin Flon, Man., stands empty on June 12 as wildfires raged in the north of the province.
When wildfire threatened my hometown, I realized the places you love can disappear in an instant, Hilary Faktor writes
‘Should you still be in town if you can see fire in the distance?”
I was on the phone with my mom, checking in on the rapidly changing forest fire situation near her community of Flin Flon, Man., when her neighbour burst through the front door hollering, “It’s time to go! We need to get out!”
Linda, the neighbour, had been listening to the radio as the evacuation alert rolled in and made sure my mom knew. They’ve been next-door neighbours for 20 years. I’d called Mom after she texted me a picture of her home taken at 3 a.m., where behind her front yard, an eerie orange glow filled the sky. The forest fire crept in, like an invading army. “It was surreal seeing that,” she said. “Like something out of Hollywood.”
In the days preceding, Mom and I had gone over a list of items she should have on hand in case the fire came closer. As an organized worrier with a steady feed of natural disasters on my timeline, my checklist was rapid fire:
“Passport, driver’s licence and wallet?”
“Packed with my will, marriage licence and your dad’s death certificate,” she replied.
“What about Auntie Susan’s quilt and the children’s books?” I asked. We began a quick backand-forth on precious family keepsakes – the vintage picture books and novels of my mother’s youth as well as the quilt a friend made for my aunt before she died of cancer, sewing our family’s life stories into each square.
Last summer, when a nearby forest fire caused the evacuation of Bakers Narrows, a lake community only a 15-minute drive from Flin Flon, I proactively took my great-grandparents’ photos and two patchwork Norwegian blankets back to Calgary.
“I have everything. I need to go.” Mom’s voice was laced with panic, but she had a plan, and a little of the tension left my shoulders knowing that she was getting out of town. She’d join the convoy of vehicles fleeing the approaching threat. Before we said goodbye, she whispered, “It’s not only your things, you know, it’s your sense of place.”
I know now that I didn’t fully comprehend the gravity of a fire which recently threatened my hometown – and which, at the time I write this, threatens it once again. Like all Canadians, I’ve followed past summers’ infernos in Fort McMurray, Alta., Kelowna, B.C., and Nova Scotia. But reading about them or hearing news on the radio is nothing like the searing panic you feel when the blaze threatens the places you thought were safe.
Then my sister blew through the door of my home, two toddlers in tow and her cellphone ready. Michelle is an HR professional on maternity leave and, within minutes, had brought me up to speed on the problem thousands of people evacuating forest fires in the North faced – a lack of hotels. She handed me a notebook and said, start with The Pas.
Meanwhile, my mom was driving alone. With fires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan blocking new roads daily, she felt uneasy about the eight-hour drive to Winnipeg (where we have family) as the evacuation alert had recommended. Mercifully, Mom’s friend tracked her down at a gas station along the route and suggested they make the drive together.
Amid the adrenalin, a slow, painful thought crept in. Would the fire breach town? The night of May 28, the day Flin Flon was evacuated, people misread a NASA heat map and believed the fire had burnt half the town. In disbelief, I tried to visualize that much loss. A few hours later, we learned the truth. The town was safe, but mighty hot. I struggled to internalize how the places of my childhood – towns, parks and well-loved wilderness, can change in an instant.
Manitoba is experiencing one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in recent decades, but this story could be from many places in Canada.
Flin Flon has a population of around 5,000 people. The 777 mine, which produced copper, zinc, gold and silver, closed in 2022. What if the high school burned, or the community centre? Would there be money to rebuild? Local favourites like the hockey arena – the Whitney Forum, named for H.P. Whitney, the New York financier who along with his son, Cornelius Vanderbilt (Sonny) Whitney, made Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting possible – might not be replaced, leaving a hockey town homeless. I worried about the fate of the Big Island Drive-In. One of only a few dozen left in Canada, this old-time charmer is a favourite of my kids when we visit.
The weeks we spend in Flin Flon each summer are a precious connection to this part of the country for my husband and me. My grandparents and dad are long gone now, but my mom’s house holds cherished memories: climbing the bald rocks behind the house as a child, walking my toddlers through my dad’s garden. Each stone statue and piece of petrified wood holds a memory. My mom’s kitchen, where five generations have eaten our family’s Ukrainian/Saskatchewan borscht. Who are we without the physical foundations of our lives?
Miraculously, the communities of Flin Flon and Creighton were spared, and on June 25, the evacuation order was lifted. The incredible efforts of more than 200 volunteer and professional firefighters held the line. But not so for the nearby village of Denare Beach.
Denare Beach is a special place to me. Chat with a local and they’ll tell you about a sweet fishing spot or the storied limestone crevices: remains of an ancient sea now compacted into limestone with caverns and crevices perfect for adventurers to explore. Denare’s was the last beach my dad visited before he passed away.
I had doom-scrolled late into the night on June 2 as word of a forest fire racing across treetops burned parts of Denare Beach. People watching on home security cameras saw the fire burst through doors and windows with the cruelty of a violent home invasion. The Ridge on Amisk Resort, a hotel and restaurant with a world-class view of Amisk Lake, burned down to the studs. My aunt and uncle married at this hotel, I had high school retreats there, and too many family dinners to count. People in Denare learned of this devastation when the volunteer firefighters, many watching their own homes burn, texted heartbroken condolences or snapped photos showing proof of life to the homes left standing.
People returned to clean the remains of places in Denare, or marvel at how their house made it through, but the kayaks or ATVs in the yard burned to ash. Citizens of Creighton and Flin Flon returned to overgrown lawns and mouldy leftovers, but with a deep sense of gratitude for all that was left. Precious memories in the form of everyday objects.
The relief was temporary as this week, Manitoba issued a second provincewide state of emergency, and people braced for the possibility of another evacuation. Flin Flon is not currently on alert, though conditions are still such that the risk of fire isn’t over yet. But with recent rainfall and ample firefighting support, there is hope.
Manitoba is experiencing one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in recent decades, but this story could be from many places in Canada. My beloved hometown, or yours. This summer, I planned to return home, and I’m hopeful that I still will. To be in my hometown, grateful for all that was spared from the fire. All the everyday things we take for granted, not understanding their value until they’re gone.
This article was written by Nick Murray and was published in the Toronto Star on July 12, 2025.
Car dealerships who were on the hook for thousands of dollars in electric vehicle rebates will have a month to make a claim to get their money back.
Transport Canada laid out the details in a call Friday with dealerships. The department indicated any vehicle that was delivered before the program paused on Jan. 12 will be eligible for reimbursement.
The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association welcomed the news. It estimates that its 3,500 members are owed about $11 million for rebates on vehicles they had already sold to customers — rebates the dealers didn’t claim from the federal government before Ottawa said the rebate program had run out of money.
“I had dealers calling immediately after (Transport Canada’s briefing) who were very emotional on the phone, who have been worried about this, because this has had a huge impact on their cash flow,” said Huw Williams, the organization’s public affairs director.
“It was quite emotional on the other side to hear dealers are going to get paid because not every manufacturer covered their dealer or supported their dealers.”
Dealerships will only be allowed to file a maximum of 25 claims per day, which Williams said will more than cover the shortfall.
Transport Canada also said any vehicle that was purchased before the Jan. 12 cutoff date but delivered to the customer after that point won’t be eligible for reimbursement.
“The cutoff date is something we’ll be discussing with Transport Canada,” Williams said.
“We’ll have to see how big that problem is and whether that can be resolved. But for the moment, this is a win for dealers.”
In January, Transport Canada paused its popular Incentives for ZeroEmission Vehicles program after its funding ran out.
The program provided up to $5,000 toward the purchase of a new zero emissions vehicle. But with the abrupt suspension of the program — only three days after the government suggested it would be paused when the funds were exhausted — hundreds of dealerships were forced to swallow the cost of any rebate claims they hadn’t yet submitted.
Liam Roach was pedalling his one year old daughter home from daycare on his bright orange cargo ebike when he heard the “whoop whoop” of a police car behind him.
He assumed the officer was trying to pull over a car and moved aside to let him pass. When the military police officer got out and walked up to his bike, he says, he was confused. The cop informed him that Ontario law prohibits having a child on an ebike — something that sounded unbelievable to Roach, considering he had just purchased the purpose built child carrying ebike at a local shop and he was using a certified child seat.
“I was pretty upset about the whole thing,” Roach said of the incident last September on the Canadian Forces Base in Kingston.
While he was let off with a warning, Roach had to pull his ebike’s battery out, rendering it a regular bike, in order to ride home legally.
“I don’t disagree that there should be some regulations on ebikes and children, especially maximum speeds and stuff like that. “But to have a blanket ban where any bicycle with a motor on it isn’t allowed to carry children seems a little ridiculous to me, especially when the rest of North America and most of the world is in line with this as a suitable method of transportation.”
Last November, Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives overturned a law regulating electric bikes and replaced it with one that bans anyone under 16 from riding an ebike — even as a passenger.
The ban has actually been in effect since 2006, according to the Ministry of Transportation, when ebikes were regulated in the same way as scooters. In 2021, the Ford government brought in legislation that created a new category for ebikes that would allow underage passengers. But the regulations were never proclaimed into law, and the Safer Roads and Communities Act, which received royal assent in November, overrules the previous law and maintains the ban.
And so while bike shops are selling them, parents are buying them, and a growing number of childcarrying ebikes are rolling on the streets — doing so it illegal.
The province’s webpage on ebike regulations doesn’t mention the ban on children.
While February flurries mean bike traffic is currently at a seasonal low, come spring when a growing number of parents pull out their ebikes and start ferrying their kids between school, daycare and activities, they’ll be risking a ticket and a fine of as much as $1,000.
Toronto police could not say if any tickets have been issued. Spokesperson Laura Brabant said she is not aware of any plans for an enforcement campaign.
While other cities and provinces have rebate programs to encourage families to buy ebikes, Ontario stands out as the only jurisdiction in the world that bans children on ebikes, says Jamie Stuckless, the former executive director of the cycling advocacy nonprofit Share the Road Coalition, who has been following the regulation of ebikes in Ontario for more than a decade.
“We’ve been trying to change the ebike laws in Ontario forever,” she said. The way the law defines ebikes is very broad and includes larger electric and gasoline powered scooters that don’t need to be pedalled, said Stuckless.
“A decade or so ago, when these rules were made, ebikes were not as prominent or as well understood, so perhaps it was just an abundance of caution,” she said. “But now we see there are a lot of purpose built ebikes for safely carrying families.”
“It’s time to update the law,” she said, adding that in the time she’s been advocating for ebikes, she’s become a mother and bought an ebike for her young family. “I don’t want people to be getting in trouble for this because tons of parents are riding and bike shops are selling these bikes with child seats and not letting you know that it’s illegal (to ride with children).”
The offices of Ford and Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria did not respond to questions about the ban.
Large “cargo” ebikes are widely available online and in bike shops across the province and can be outfitted with child seats, safety bars and even a canvas rain cover. While some ebikes operate without pedalling, most have “pedalassisted” propulsion that uses an electric motor to make it easier to pedal. Popular ebike brands such as Rad Power Bikes prominently display photos of parents and kids in their promotional material.
Childcarrying ebikes are the biggest growth segment in the business, says Kevin McLaughlin, who has been selling all kinds of ebikes out of Zygg, his Roncesvallesarea shop, since 2020. “This is what people are excited about. People want to be able to take their kids to school and then keep on going to work and pick up groceries on the way home,” he said.
But McLaughlin said he had no idea a ban on child passengers was in effect. “It’s very concerning, because people had been told that it was OK and there’s been no communication from the government.”
Instead of banning kids, the province would do well to start enforcing rules that actually relate to safety, like battery size, maximum speed and certification standards, he said.
During the legislative committee debate on the law, Progressive Conservative member Ric Bresee gave a hint that the government would use the new legislation to properly regulate the chaotic and rapidly growing micromobility market.
“There are a huge number of different styles and structures of these bikes,” he said, according to a transcript of the meeting. “We need to make sure that we get that right, as to which ones require licensing, which ones don’t etc., the age restrictions — all of that. That move to get those regulations requires that we, I’ll say, clear the path for those definitions, and that is exactly what this legislation is doing.”
Michael Longfield, the executive director of the bicycle advocacy group CycleTO, flagged the child passenger ban in a letter to the government while the ebike bill was winding its way through the legislative process.
“I think this perpetuates a myth that kids riding on ebikes are in some way dangerous, which is quite misleading given that traffic collisions in cars tend to be a much higher percentage of young people’s injuries and deaths,” he said.
There are years of data from other countries where ebikes are popular and none of it points to any safety concerns for children, as long as the bikes are properly designed and certified, Toronto emergency room doctor Edward Xie said.
“I see tons of children on ebikes, but I have not seen any ebike injuries,” he added. To the contrary, because of the health benefits associated with an active lifestyle, “we should encourage families to use these bikes,” said Xie. “The evidence is very clear on this that the health benefits of riding a bike are immense, primarily due to prevention of chronic disease such as diabetes and heart disease.”
Opposition Transportation critic Jennifer French said the ban tells you everything you need to know about the Ford government’s attitude toward cyclists.
“This is not a government that is interested in hearing from cyclists. I think that they seem to consider them a fringe group,” said French, who linked the ebike rules to the province’s plan to rip out bike lanes.
French said parents who came to committee to express their concerns were brushed aside by the Progressive Conservatives.
“It doesn’t make any sense that they would go forward with something that creates such havoc when I think the spirit of any ebike legislation is meant to make things easier,” she said.
Kevin Shields and his wife, Ewa, sold their car when they moved to Toronto, and say biking, walking and transit are far better ways of getting around. They take their two kids, ages four and 10, on an ebike to and from school everyday.
“It is our car. We use it 24/7/365 for everything we do,” he said. “The kids love it. They play `I spy.’ They sing. It could be raining or snowing and they’re under the cover, totally oblivious.”
Ebikes are a great solution for families feeling the squeeze of inflation, says CycleTO’s Longfield, with sales as strong as they are, going forward there are going to be more ebikes with kids around — even if they’re not legal for use.
“They’re sold at Canadian Tire,” he said. “I don’t know if people know they are buying a vehicle they’re not legally allowed to use.
“Could you imagine buying a car and later finding out you can’t drive it?”
This article was written by the Associated Press and was published in the Toronto Star on September 30, 2024.
Authorities struggled to get water and other supplies to isolated, flood-stricken areas across the U.S. Southeast in the wake of Hurricane Helene as the death toll from the storm rose.
A North Carolina county that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people killed due to the storm, and several other fatalities reported in North Carolina on Sunday pushed the overall death toll to at least 91 people across several states.
Supplies were being airlifted to the region around the isolated city. Buncombe County manager Avril Pinder pledged she would have food and water into Ashville — known for its arts, culture and natural attractions — by Monday.
Officials warned rebuilding from the widespread loss of homes and property would be lengthy and difficult. Deaths also were reported in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.
He implored residents in western North Carolina to avoid travel, for their own safety and to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams spread throughout the region.
One rescue effort involved saving 41 people north of Asheville. Another focused on saving a single infant.
U.S. President Joe Biden described the impact of the storm as “stunning” and said he would visit the area this week as long as it does not disrupt rescues or recovery work.
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