LaSalle considers Remembrance Day commemorative crosswalk
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
8 minutes ago
- National Post
Canadian man has to pay $189 in import fees after shipping heirloom ring he forgot in the U.S.
A B.C. couple say it's not right that they have to pay nearly $200 in import fees to reclaim a wedding ring — also a family heirloom — that was shipped back to them from family in the United States after being mistakenly left behind earlier this month. Article content Admittedly, the Nanaimo resident isn't a jewellery guy, so the gold ring given to him by his late father, Jimmy, almost 20 years ago, had sat unused for many years. Article content Article content 'I thought about getting it resized,' he told National Post. 'My fingers are substantially more slender, right? His ring was too big for all of them, other than maybe my thumb if I was lucky.' Article content He'd always promised to make use of it one day, and that came two years after his father's passing in 2022, when he and his common-law partner of many years, Andrea Nelson, decided to get legally married. Article content They had the ring fitted for his hand, picked another of his rings for Nelson to use as a wedding band and were married in 2024. Article content 'I think he would have just loved the fact that I had finally done something with it,' Baker-Taylor said. Article content Article content While visiting his godparents in Washington State earlier this month, he removed the ring before getting in the shower — 'Its structure holds water,' he explained — but then left without putting it back on dry hands. They realized and called their hosts before even departing the state, who confirmed with a photo that it was safe and sound. Article content Relieved, they did the practical thing and quickly arranged to have it shipped back to their address via UPS with $500 worth of insurance on the package. Article content Article content When it arrived some days later, however, the delivery person informed the astounded couple that it would cost a combined $189 in cross-border duty, taxes, import tariff and brokerage fee to have it returned. Article content Article content 'We discovered it's being treated like a jewelry transaction, an import across the border,' said Baker-Taylor. Article content 'There's no way for them to prove that I purchased this; the burden should be on them.' Article content They've since discovered that proving that the ring was, at one time, a bequest from his father is somewhat challenging. Article content The Canada Border Services Agency, in a statement to National Post, said the Customs Act doesn't allow it to discuss the couple's case specifically, but a spokesperson did clarify some of the guidelines that would apply to their situation. Article content Under the Act, any personal (non-commercial) goods brought into Canada are subject to duty and taxes at the time of importation 'based on federal and provincial tax rates, as well as current rates of duty.'
CBC
9 minutes ago
- CBC
N.W.T. to add boat wash station in effort to keep invasive species out
The N.W.T. government is ramping up its efforts to keep invasive species such as zebra mussels out of the territory with plans to install a boat washing station near the Alberta border next spring. The station is part of the territory's effort to collaborate with Canada's western provinces in order to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species throughout the country, said Rob Gau, the manager of biodiversity conservation for the N.W.T. government. "Our jurisdiction is a part of several national invasive species working groups," Gau explained. "We work as close as we can with other jurisdictions and monitor their efforts." Gau described the washing station as a "nifty little unit" powered by solar energy that is equipped with an air blower, a wet vacuum, and a grabber to easily remove plants stuck in a propeller or underneath the boat. It will be installed at the 60th Parallel Territorial Park next spring, and will continue to show up at the park each year between May and September. The park is close to the Alberta border and gets a lot of traffic, making it an ideal location for the wash station, according to Gau. Similar wash stations are already being used in many other parts of the country. Many provinces have implemented a protocol called "clean, drain, dry," which encourages boaters to clean their watercraft after use, drain any standing water and completely dry the boat before transporting it to another body of water. Following this protocol drastically reduces "almost all the risk" of introducing invasive aquatic species to new environments, said Megan Evans, the executive director of the Alberta Invasive Species Council. The N.W.T. doesn't currently require boaters to use wash stations, Gua said. But in places like Alberta and B.C., it's legally required. Both provinces have boat inspection stations to ensure that people wash their boats properly and stop the spread of invasive species. Invasive aquatic species harm infrastructure, ecosystems While all invasive species present risks to aquatic ecosystems, zebra mussels and quagga mussels are particularly dangerous when it comes to competing with native plants and animals. Described by Evans as "public enemy number one," these mussels are "very destructive" and "very damaging." A single zebra mussel, roughly the size of a fingernail, can filter a litre of water in a day. This means the mussel strips the ecosystem of much-needed plankton and algae which would otherwise provide food and nutrients to native species. These invasive mussels also damage aquatic infrastructure, clogging up hydroelectric pipes and destroying irrigation networks, due to their propensity to stick onto hard surfaces including boats. Zebra and quagga mussels have not yet made their way to the rivers and lakes of N.W.T., and a boat washing station is a proactive step to stop the spread of these species before it even begins, said Gau. Once a species invades an ecosystem and becomes established, it can be "extremely difficult and quite costly to control or remove," explained Katie Church, the aquatic plant coordinator at the Ontario-based Invasive Species Centre. "Prevention is 100 per cent more cost effective than introduction." While this is the first time the N.W.T. government will be installing a wash station, if invasive aquatic species become a more significant threat in the N.W.T., Gau said he could see wildlife management officials installing similar machines throughout the territory.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Sask. Mayor honoured with fire bear medallion for firefighting contributions
As fires were taking over the Boreal forest in northern Saskatchewan, Sandra Lynn Caisse Dennett wanted to bead a medallion of a bear that had the colours of fire. As Dennett put the finishing touches on her work, she settled on honouring one person's work with the medallion: Rick Laliberte, the mayor of Beauval, who Dennett said went above and beyond his duties to help his community. "To us, he is a true leader and hero," her written statement to CBC Indigenous said. Dennett said she witnessed first-hand the difference Laliberte's work had in the community; when the fires got out of control, "he was right in there." Dennett lives in the community of Beauval, Saskatchewan, which is 656 kilometres north of Regina, where forest fires have raged since early July. As community members evacuated with what they could, the Mayor stayed behind to help with the fires. Laliberte said he thought he was just going to take care of some pets at Dennett's home and he didn't know he would be honoured by her. "It was a complete surprise, but I gladly received it," Laliberte told CBC Indigenous. "All the beads that are on here, that's my entire team. Every bead is a person's effort here in our community." Laliberte said he's been hauling hoses, reclaiming fire pumps and hauling gas to the pumps, to keep up the sprinkler systems in the community. He's also used his boat to deliver gas, and transfer pumps to other locations. He said he and local fire crews are fighting fires late into the night, when winds die down and hot spots become more visible than they are in the day time. "That's the way the old folks did it, when grandparents and parents fought the fire at night," said Laliberte He said the fires have been travelling fast due to drought and the roots of trees are so dry, they're burning right down to the sandy ground. He said he's thankful his community is now safe from the fires and no homes were burned down. Now he's hoping for more rain. 'Their home as well' Laliberte said he's witnessed and heard of numerous acts of people saving animals while fighting fires, including three baby eaglets, unable to fly, which were saved by a waterbombing helicopter that dropped water on trees around theirs. When a baby coyote was injured on the side of the road, Laliberte said he and his wife took it home to try and help it. It survived and the next day it was picked up by conservation officers. "It's love, that's what it is, we love our people, but also our animals that we grew up with," said Laliberte.
