Latest news with #AtlanticProvinces
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
P.E.I. parasailing group hopes to make sport more accessible to Islanders
A new group is looking to bring parasailing to the Island, which would mean all four Atlantic provinces would have programs to make sailing accessible for all people. Benjamin Keizer, founder of Able Sail P.E.I., said there are other similar groups across Canada, including in B.C. and Ontario. "We're the only Atlantic province currently that doesn't have a parasailing program, and so we want to bring it over to P.E.I. so we can compete with the rest of them," he said. Keizer said he isn't aware of there being any accessible boats on the Island, so he said they're looking for potential boats in other provinces that could be used on the Island. He estimated an accessible boat would cost around $40,000. Keizer said the boats could be used by people who have no mobility from the neck down. "If you're blind, if you're deaf, if you have lower limb disability, upper limb disability, if you're unable to actually use your hands, you can use a straw system, so you can control the sails by sipping and puffing through straws," he said. A demonstration event was held at the Charlottetown Yacht Club Saturday. Cara Flanagan attended the demonstration. She said she hasn't been on a sailboat in nearly two decades. With regular sailboats, she said she would need somebody else to help her board and get off, which she said isn't necessarily simple. "I've never seen an accessible boat, where this one has a lift that will lift you up into the sailboat," she said. Flanagan said she thinks this will be a successful program. "I think it would be a major game changer, with just the amount of people that are here today, and there's a few other people I know that were not able to be here and would love to try this out," she said. Keizer said this event was to see if people are interested in parasailing. He wants people to come to the next event on July 12. "Just get the word out, to see if people would ... be interested in volunteering, or if they have someone in their community that has a disability, that they can come down and learn about the sailing opportunities," he said.
CBC
19-06-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Gas prices, taxes and misinformation: why more Alberta drivers aren't going electric
Social Sharing Canada's electric vehicle sales are largely focused in just a few provinces, but a recent survey indicates the sector faces a particularly uphill road in Alberta. Just 28 per cent of Albertan respondents said they were certain, very likely or inclined to buy an EV as their next car, in a recent Abacus Data survey, tied with the Atlantic provinces for the lowest among Canadian provinces and falling below the national response of 45 per cent. The survey also found declining interest nationally, as the percentage of respondents who would buy an EV as their next vehicle dropped 13 per cent since they asked the same question to Canadians in 2022. Within that Alberta response, just one per cent said they were certain an EV would be their next car. Blake Shaffer, an associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary, was not surprised to see the disparity. He pointed to Canada's federal incentive for zero-emission vehicles ending, and the threat of U.S. tariffs driving down gas prices earlier this year, and the fact that cold weather can reduce battery range as factors that would create less interest in EVs. But he also noted the similarly low interest from respondents in Abacus's poll who voted Conservative, which he said is indicative of another barrier to EV growth in Alberta: political ideology. "You look at an electoral map, and I think it aligns quite closely with the numbers on your EV intention map," Shaffer said. "For whatever reason, electric vehicles have been caught up as an ideological symbol." Upfront costs vs. saving at the pump Nevertheless, EVs have seen growth in Alberta in recent years. As of March 2024, there were 14,189 electric vehicles registered in Alberta, more than double the number recorded in 2022. That growth has occurred even though Alberta has never had an EV incentive program of its own, like some other provinces. The lack of incentive, combined with a $200 annual provincial tax — which the province says is to account for wear and tear on roads, and make up for the fuel tax that electric vehicles owners don't pay — can lead to a stiff upfront cost compared to similar gas-powered models. That extra cost is the most common barrier to buying an electric car, Shaffer said. It can lead drivers to question if EVs are a good investment. Saskatchewan also places a tax on EV buyers, and its respondents showed a similar lack of enthusiasm to selecting an EV as their next vehicle in the Abacus survey. More simply, Shaffer said slower EV uptake can also be connected to an overall hesitancy to embrace new technology, which he's optimistic can change. "The more people see people like themselves, maybe their neighbours, with a new technology, they start to realize it works, it's not so uncomfortable or scary,'" Shaffer said. William York, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of Alberta, said he sees other reasons why some drivers in Alberta don't want to go electric, including a sense of loyalty to the oil and gas industry, especially among those who remember the downturn the industry felt a decade ago. "I think it plays out in terms of [Albertans] wanting to support the oil and gas industry. So EVs are considered, for right or wrong reasons, an enemy to that industry," York said. But York is frustrated with viewing gas-powered and electric vehicles in opposition. Instead, he notes that Alberta is well positioned to be a player in the EV industry, with its large supplies of lithium and natural gas, which can be used for car batteries and electricity generation respectively. "It just seems like we can't wrap our heads around the nuance, and we argue these topics with a surface-level understanding," York said. Nathan Taylor has noticed a stigma against EVs in his hometown of St. Paul, Alta. He owns a Tesla Model Y, a car he was drawn to out of a fascination for the technology behind electric cars. But the more tangible barrier to that technology, he said, is a lack of public charging infrastructure around much of the province with some towns having none at all. For families who may not be able to afford to own both an electric and gas-powered car, and who need their vehicle for long commutes between cities, a larger network of public charging ports would give them the option to consider an EV, Taylor said. Travelling between his home and Edmonton typically requires adding 20 to 30 minutes to his commute to ensure he can drive by a charging station en route. "It's teaching those little details and having to plan out your life out a little bit with an electric vehicle that is an added inconvenience," Taylor said. "Knowing that there's always a gas station around means you don't have to plan. If we had more charging infrastructure, it would be easier." Misperceptions and spontaneous combustion memes Todd Hillier, a Ford F-150 Lightning owner in Fort McMurray, echoed Taylor's point. He wants to see more charging stations around Alberta. But the money he's saved at the pump from not needing oil changes outweighs that inconvenience, he said. Ever since buying his EV a year and a half ago, he hasn't looked back. But that's still not a common sentiment among many people Hillier talks to, he said. The misinformation he often hears about EVs in conversation and shared in memes online, frustrates him, and he said it prevents people from making an informed choice. And he's heard it all, including that EVs need to be plugged in for days at a time, that the battery often dies unexpectedly leaving a driver stranded on the side of a highway, or that the cars are prone to spontaneous combustion. "A lot of the initial conversations I have with people are straight up misinformation," Hillier said. "It might take a little bit longer to get to Edmonton from Fort McMurray, but I can do it at a fraction of the cost of someone that fills up with gas ... Some people say 'Oh, I'll pay more to get to Edmonton faster.' Sure, that's your prerogative and that's very much a fact. I'd rather have that discussion than someone saying it might spontaneously explode on the way to Edmonton. No, that's not happening." Hillier still sees more EVs in his city than he ever has before, and has found a network of other drivers around Alberta to talk to that's grown even in the past year. That reflects an openness toward EVs that Clean Energy Canada director of communications Trevor Melanson sees in the survey's results. The Abacus survey was commissioned by Clean Energy Canada, and Melanson pointed out that because only 37 per cent of Albertan respondents were certain to buy a gas or diesel car as their next vehicle, it indicates a solid majority are at least open to buying an EV. It just needs to make financial sense to drivers, he said, and more incentives and information around EVs could lead to more uptake. The federal government is currently considering replacing its EV incentive program, which Melanson said would boost sales across the country. "There's a cyclical relationship here between supporting EVs and interest in EVs. When you have governments that support getting an EV and they make it easier for you, you're more likely to be open to it," Melanson said. The Abacus Data survey was conducted with 2,585 Canadians from June 2 to June 5, 2025. A random sample of panelists was invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels. The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 1.92%, 19 times out of 20. The data was weighted according to census data to ensure the sample matched Canada's population according to age, gender and region.
CBC
13-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Maritime cereal grain farmers get access to new warning system for fungal disease
Scientists on Prince Edward Island have created a new warning system to help Maritime farmers avoid a costly disease called fusarium head blight, which can decrease grain yields while contaminating the crop with toxins. The Fusarium Head Blight Environmental Risk Forecast Tool can be found on the Atlantic Grain Council's website and is available to growers throughout the region. "Fusarium head blight is a really devastating disease that occurs pretty much around the world in cereal-growing regions," said Adam Foster, a cereal and oilseed pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada who's based in Charlottetown. "Not only does it cause yield losses, like loss of harvest and seed, but it will also contaminate the grain with mycotoxins that can make it unsuitable for people and animals to actually eat if it gets to a high enough level." The risk of disease is higher when the weather is warm and wet, Foster said, adding that tropical nights can make it a lot worse. Those are conditions that could become more common in the Atlantic provinces due to climate change, he said. "What the forecast tool will actually do is examine weather over the last week and incorporate those factors into the models to… predict whether disease is likely to occur or not." Management strategies It's hard to predict at the beginning of any given growing season whether fusarium head blight will be a problem that year, Foster said. P.E.I. was hit particularly hard in 2023, resulting in a lot of grain being lost to the disease. "By the time you actually see the disease, it's too late to act. So having a prediction tool actually tell you ahead of time gives you a little bit of early warning of what's to come," he said. "With a proactive tool and other disease management practices… it is actually manageable." Other management practices include selecting selectively bred varieties that are partially resistant to the fungus, having a diverse crop rotation, and using chemical fungicides or biological control agents to suppress the disease, Foster said. A useful tool Steven Hamill, a farmer in Newton, P.E.I., expects the wheat in his fields to start flowering next week. He thinks the new forecasting tool will be an asset. "There's been years where there's thousands of acres that have been destroyed in the field or hauled out of bins, so there's huge economic impact in a bad year," Hamill said. Hamill said he sprays his crops with fungicide every year as a preventative measure, but not all farmers do the same. "Having the tool, I guess, will validate the decision… or help people make that decision if they don't use it every year," he said. The timely application of fungicides, along with implementing measures that help prevent and suppress the disease, is the best approach when it comes to managing flusarium head blight, Hamill said. The new forecasting tool adds another tool to the toolbox, he said. "I think it's great to have the collaboration with scientists and farmers and, you know, get them in the field together and determine what problems there [are] and what solutions they can come up with."
CBC
23-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
CBC Atlantic journalists among RTDNA Awards East Region finalists
CBC journalists from each Atlantic province are among East Region finalists for the RTDNA Awards recognizing excellence in digital and broadcast journalism. RTDNA Canada Awards honour the best journalists, programs, platforms, stations, and newsgathering organizations in audio, digital and video. Regional award winners will be announced on June 4. 2025 RTDNA Awards East Region Finalists AUDIO CBC Atlantic – Marie, the fashion queen CBC Newfoundland and Labrador – Georgina's Law News – Live Special Events CBC New Brunswick – Information Morning New Brunswick Eclipse Show CBC Cape Breton – Information Morning Cape Breton Record Breaking Winter Storm CBC P.E.I. – Island Morning Ferry Remote Show DIGITAL Excellence in Data Storytelling CBC Nova Scotia – CBC Atlantic I-Unit – CBC P.E.I. – CBC P.E.I. MULTIPLATFORM Continuing Coverage (Small/Medium Market) CBC Newfoundland and Labrador – Jack's Law A man's fight to change N.L.'s Limitations Act CBC Atlantic – Enterprise Journalism (Small Medium Market) CBC Newfoundland and Labrador – Hot air, broken promises Investigative Excellence Why homeowners wish they'd shut the door on this water treatment company 1 year ago Duration 8:03 CBC spoke with several customers in Nova Scotia who dealt with sales people from Atlantic Environmental Systems. CBC investigative reporter Angela MacIvor has the story. CBC Nova Scotia – CBC P.E.I. – VIDEO
CBC
08-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
CBC journalists among finalists for Atlantic Journalism Awards
CBC journalists in all four Atlantic provinces received 24 nominations for the Atlantic Journalism Awards. Winners will be announced during the awards show on June 7 in Halifax. The finalists include: Audio Feature Video Nicola Seguin - CBC Nova Scotia, Housing Crisis Feature An underwater war story: See ships sunk by Hitler's U-boats just off Bell Island 6 months ago Duration 9:38 Terry Roberts, Danny Arsenault, Peter Gullage - CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, An underwater war story: Hitler's U-boat Someone's Son: Repatriating Newfoundland's Unknown Soldier 10 months ago Duration 26:06 Any Medium Melissa Tobin - CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, Mark Bragg's Song of Recovery Curtis Hicks, Caroline Hillier - Atlantic Voice, Shake my hand, I'm from Newfoundland Business Reporting and Writing Why homeowners wish they'd shut the door on this water treatment company 12 months ago Duration 8:03 Funding stopped for ghost gear cleanup — N.B. fishermen want it back 11 months ago Duration 2:57 Prapti Bamaniya - CBC New Brunswick, Tennis Prodigy SPECIAL AWARDS Jim MacNeill New Journalist Award
