Latest news with #McAleer
Hamilton Spectator
02-07-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Looking forward to a vacation? Don't let travel insurance be an afterthought
You've packed your clothes, toothbrush, extra pairs of socks, sunscreen — and anything else you might need during your vacation. Experts recommend adding travel insurance to the list, whether you're going near or far. 'We all think, 'Oh, we're just going to go away, maybe even for a quick trip,'' said Will McAleer, executive director of the Travel Health Insurance Association. 'Sometimes, it's those quick trips that can result in a significant medical emergency.' Travel insurance is often an afterthought for many travellers counting down the days to their vacation. But life happens no matter where you are and being prepared for a medical emergency, flight delays or even trip cancellations can help deal with those undesired situations. Often, it can be the demographic of travellers that strongly affects their decisions about getting a policy, said Steven Harris, a licensed insurance broker and expert at . 'If I were to go back to my more youthful self, there was a naiveness (in) not understanding what could occur and what could be the financial consequences to that,' he recalled. Travel insurance premiums aren't usually high for 20-something travellers, Harris said, and can save them from the devastating costs of international health care. The right insurance policy depends on the traveller's plans including the destination, activities and duration of the trip. McAleer said there are two main kinds of travel insurance: medical and emergency, and trip cancellation and interruption. Medical and emergency insurance can cover costs such as an ambulance ride, hospital visit, air ambulance and even commercial repatriation for continued care, he said. Trip cancellation and interruptions coverage, meanwhile, can save the high costs of trip disruptions due to personal emergencies. For example, Canadians often go down to Mexico on packaged trips and take chartered flights, McAleer said. If they need to get home mid-trip for an emergency and don't have coverage, the new flight could cost more. Canadians often forgo insurance coverage when travelling domestically — partly because they enjoy universal health care benefits across provinces. But that may not be enough in some situations, McAleer said. Four in 10 Ontarians travelled outside of their home province without travel insurance during their last trip, a CAA South Central Survey, published last week, showed. Almost half of them believed it was unnecessary while 24 per cent were worried about costs. 'Let's say you're hiking in the Rockies and something goes wrong, you have an accident,' McAleer said. 'Maybe you need to be taken to the nearest hospital by ambulance, or worse, it could be an emergency evacuation helicopter off the mountain to get you to that medical treatment. 'Those types of costs can be significant and are not covered under provincial medical,' he said. Harris suggested looking into your workplace benefits first and seeing if it's sufficient. 'Some people will make an assumption that, 'Oh, I have a work plan or I have travel insurance for my credit card,'' he said. 'But you really need to understand those policies and what's included.' McAleer said most workplace and credit card travel insurances cover emergency medical coverage, which can be beneficial in both domestic and international travel situations. But they can have limitations. For example, some insurance policies may not cover injuries from high-risk activities, pregnancy or pre-existing health conditions. Sometimes, it only covers a few days of a trip. 'From time to time, you hear those stories where someone either was too old for (coverage) because there was an age limit on a credit card insurance plan or because they were participating in sports that weren't covered under an employer-sponsored plan,' McAleer said. When it comes to quick getaways, Canadians continue to travel south of the border, even as many boycott travel to the United States this year amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and annexation comments. 'The United States is the most expensive place on the planet to seek medical care, and as a result, a quick trip over the border (can) lead to financial ruin,' he added. McAleer said the golden rule of travel insurance is to know your health, know where you're going and see if the insurance policy will cover it. 'And ultimately, know your rights,' he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
01-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Looking forward to a vacation? Don't let travel insurance be an afterthought
You've packed your clothes, toothbrush, extra pairs of socks, sunscreen — and anything else you might need during your vacation. Experts recommend adding travel insurance to the list, whether you're going near or far. 'We all think, 'Oh, we're just going to go away, maybe even for a quick trip,'' said Will McAleer, executive director of the Travel Health Insurance Association. 'Sometimes, it's those quick trips that can result in a significant medical emergency.' Travel insurance is often an afterthought for many travellers counting down the days to their vacation. But life happens no matter where you are and being prepared for a medical emergency, flight delays or even trip cancellations can help deal with those undesired situations. Often, it can be the demographic of travellers that strongly affects their decisions about getting a policy, said Steven Harris, a licensed insurance broker and expert at 'If I were to go back to my more youthful self, there was a naiveness (in) not understanding what could occur and what could be the financial consequences to that,' he recalled. Travel insurance premiums aren't usually high for 20-something travellers, Harris said, and can save them from the devastating costs of international health care. The right insurance policy depends on the traveller's plans including the destination, activities and duration of the trip. McAleer said there are two main kinds of travel insurance: medical and emergency, and trip cancellation and interruption. Medical and emergency insurance can cover costs such as an ambulance ride, hospital visit, air ambulance and even commercial repatriation for continued care, he said. Trip cancellation and interruptions coverage, meanwhile, can save the high costs of trip disruptions due to personal emergencies. For example, Canadians often go down to Mexico on packaged trips and take chartered flights, McAleer said. If they need to get home mid-trip for an emergency and don't have coverage, the new flight could cost more. Canadians often forgo insurance coverage when travelling domestically — partly because they enjoy universal health care benefits across provinces. But that may not be enough in some situations, McAleer said. Four in 10 Ontarians travelled outside of their home province without travel insurance during their last trip, a CAA South Central Survey, published last week, showed. Almost half of them believed it was unnecessary while 24 per cent were worried about costs. 'Let's say you're hiking in the Rockies and something goes wrong, you have an accident,' McAleer said. 'Maybe you need to be taken to the nearest hospital by ambulance, or worse, it could be an emergency evacuation helicopter off the mountain to get you to that medical treatment. 'Those types of costs can be significant and are not covered under provincial medical,' he said. Harris suggested looking into your workplace benefits first and seeing if it's sufficient. 'Some people will make an assumption that, 'Oh, I have a work plan or I have travel insurance for my credit card,'' he said. 'But you really need to understand those policies and what's included.' McAleer said most workplace and credit card travel insurances cover emergency medical coverage, which can be beneficial in both domestic and international travel situations. But they can have limitations. For example, some insurance policies may not cover injuries from high-risk activities, pregnancy or pre-existing health conditions. Sometimes, it only covers a few days of a trip. 'From time to time, you hear those stories where someone either was too old for (coverage) because there was an age limit on a credit card insurance plan or because they were participating in sports that weren't covered under an employer-sponsored plan,' McAleer said. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. When it comes to quick getaways, Canadians continue to travel south of the border, even as many boycott travel to the United States this year amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and annexation comments. 'The United States is the most expensive place on the planet to seek medical care, and as a result, a quick trip over the border (can) lead to financial ruin,' he added. McAleer said the golden rule of travel insurance is to know your health, know where you're going and see if the insurance policy will cover it. 'And ultimately, know your rights,' he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Yahoo
Looking forward to a vacation? Don't let travel insurance be an afterthought
You've packed your clothes, toothbrush, extra pairs of socks, sunscreen — and anything else you might need during your vacation. Experts recommend adding travel insurance to the list, whether you're going near or far. "We all think, 'Oh, we're just going to go away, maybe even for a quick trip,'" said Will McAleer, executive director of the Travel Health Insurance Association. "Sometimes, it's those quick trips that can result in a significant medical emergency." Travel insurance is often an afterthought for many travellers counting down the days to their vacation. But life happens no matter where you are and being prepared for a medical emergency, flight delays or even trip cancellations can help deal with those undesired situations. Often, it can be the demographic of travellers that strongly affects their decisions about getting a policy, said Steven Harris, a licensed insurance broker and expert at "If I were to go back to my more youthful self, there was a naiveness (in) not understanding what could occur and what could be the financial consequences to that," he recalled. Travel insurance premiums aren't usually high for 20-something travellers, Harris said, and can save them from the devastating costs of international health care. The right insurance policy depends on the traveller's plans including the destination, activities and duration of the trip. McAleer said there are two main kinds of travel insurance: medical and emergency, and trip cancellation and interruption. Medical and emergency insurance can cover costs such as an ambulance ride, hospital visit, air ambulance and even commercial repatriation for continued care, he said. Trip cancellation and interruptions coverage, meanwhile, can save the high costs of trip disruptions due to personal emergencies. For example, Canadians often go down to Mexico on packaged trips and take chartered flights, McAleer said. If they need to get home mid-trip for an emergency and don't have coverage, the new flight could cost more. Canadians often forgo insurance coverage when travelling domestically — partly because they enjoy universal health care benefits across provinces. But that may not be enough in some situations, McAleer said. Four in 10 Ontarians travelled outside of their home province without travel insurance during their last trip, a CAA South Central Survey, published last week, showed. Almost half of them believed it was unnecessary while 24 per cent were worried about costs. "Let's say you're hiking in the Rockies and something goes wrong, you have an accident," McAleer said. "Maybe you need to be taken to the nearest hospital by ambulance, or worse, it could be an emergency evacuation helicopter off the mountain to get you to that medical treatment. "Those types of costs can be significant and are not covered under provincial medical," he said. Harris suggested looking into your workplace benefits first and seeing if it's sufficient. "Some people will make an assumption that, 'Oh, I have a work plan or I have travel insurance for my credit card,'" he said. "But you really need to understand those policies and what's included." McAleer said most workplace and credit card travel insurances cover emergency medical coverage, which can be beneficial in both domestic and international travel situations. But they can have limitations. For example, some insurance policies may not cover injuries from high-risk activities, pregnancy or pre-existing health conditions. Sometimes, it only covers a few days of a trip. "From time to time, you hear those stories where someone either was too old for (coverage) because there was an age limit on a credit card insurance plan or because they were participating in sports that weren't covered under an employer-sponsored plan," McAleer said. When it comes to quick getaways, Canadians continue to travel south of the border, even as many boycott travel to the United States this year amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and annexation comments. "The United States is the most expensive place on the planet to seek medical care, and as a result, a quick trip over the border (can) lead to financial ruin," he added. McAleer said the golden rule of travel insurance is to know your health, know where you're going and see if the insurance policy will cover it. "And ultimately, know your rights," he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025. Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Agriland
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Agriland
Muir must ‘start again' on NAP issue
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (AERA), Andrew Muir, has been told that he must go back to the drawing board in terms of developing a Nutrients Action Plan (NAP) for Northern Ireland. This is according to Declan McAleer, the deputy chair of Northern Ireland's AERA Committee. Speaking after a Stormont Assembly debate on the new NAP regulations, McAleer said that the agriculture minister has put the cart before the horse. McAleer added: 'There is talk of a stakeholder group being formed to review the outcome of the now ongoing NAP public consultation. 'Getting the fundamental view of these bodies before going public with any package of proposals should have been the course of action taken in the first place. 'And that's what should happen now. The farm minister should bring the current public consultation to an end with immediate effect and start again.' The Sinn Féin politician also believes that many of the current NAP proposals are not for purpose. He explained: 'They give little recognition to the steps that have been taken on farms across the north to prove water quality. 'All farmers want water of the highest quality – both for their own personal use while also meeting the needs of their stock. 'Looking ahead, the proposed NAP arrangements foresee the use of low emission slurry spreading equipment on all farms by 2029. 'But the reality is that small farm businesses in places like the Sperrins will not be able to fund an investment of this type from their own pockets.' According to McAleer, this 'brings up the issue of effective support being made available' to ensure the proper implementation of any NAP proposals that are eventually agreed upon. 'Farmers have a vital role to play in protecting our waterways and need to be properly supported to do that,' he said. McAleer indicated that the Stormont Assembly had sent a clear message by voting to reject the minister's plan and to call for meaningful engagement with the farming community. 'The current NAP proposals are not fit for purpose. The timelines currently set out are very difficult for many farmers to meet and the necessary supports are absent,' the AERA Committee deputy chair said. 'Sinn Féin has raised these concerns directly with department of agriculture officials and we will continue to make the case for a just transition whereby the department properly engages with farmers, carries out proper impact assessments and supports farmers to reduce pollution.'
CBC
10-02-2025
- CBC
He left a white supremacy group. Now he's working to help others do the same
Tony McAleer was just 16 years old when he got involved with a hate group. He said he was into Vancouver's punk scene, where he met a group of skinheads. "They terrified me," he said. "I grew up as this sensitive, bright kid. I didn't get into fights at school. I wasn't good at fighting. I was a smart kid, not a tough kid. But these guys had the one thing that I craved at the time, and that was toughness." So, in order to gain the support of these "tough" people that gave him the power he so desired, he started spending time with them, and eventually participating in their violence. McAleer soon became active in the White Aryan Resistance, where he became a leader. But 15 years later, he left that life behind and embarked on a path of healing. He's since founded a non-profit, Life After Hate, which helps other people leaving white supremacy groups, written a book called The Cure For Hate, and starred in a documentary about his journey. He sat down for an interview with CBC's Daybreak South host Chris Walker ahead of a screening of The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to Auschwitz in Kelowna. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How were you first drawn into white supremacy? I grew up in Vancouver in an affluent neighbourhood. My father was a psychiatrist. I went to an all-boys private school. When I was 10, I walked in on my father with another woman, and that really rocked my world and my teachers decided they should try and beat the grades back into me. I was beaten with a metre stick if I didn't get an A or B in major tests and assignments. That happened over and over and over again. To this day, I have never felt more powerless than I did. I'd gone from listening to Elton John and Queen to The Clash and the Sex Pistols. I'd gone to boarding school for a year in England and was introduced to skinheads then. It was at a punk show in Vancouver that I first met skinheads. People feared them. Nobody feared me. When I was with them, that sense of power, that false sense of power that comes with being with people that are afraid of you, was the exact opposite of that powerlessness I felt. It felt so safe to me. And in order to have their protection, I had to have their respect. In order to have their respect, I had to engage in the same street violence that that they did. I wanna talk a bit about how you got out of this life. In 1998, Nirmal Singh Gill was beaten to death by skinheads outside a Surrey temple. You met some of these people. How did that affect you? At the time, I was so disconnected from my humanity, I didn't feel anything for Nirmal when that happened. I just thought it was bad for business. It was bad PR. Hate is a very cold emotion. When we see the yelling skinhead with the Nazi flag, that's rage. Underneath the hate is cold and dispassionate. I was completely disconnected from my humanity. I couldn't relate to the humanity of another human being. It wasn't until much later that I had the opportunity to go back and work with that temple and work with his family — that was only just six years ago — to do that work of repair for both myself and the community. What was it that made you question all these beliefs suddenly? When I left the movement, I still had the beliefs intact. It's not just the ideas in someone's head, it was my whole identity. It was who I hung out with, the videos I watched, the music I listened to. It's challenging to get someone to admit that what they believe is wrong. I left the movement behind, but I was still a jerk. I still had all of the wounds that were spilling out all over everywhere. I used humour, sarcasm, putting people down, I could verbally destroy people without any violence. I was still a jerk because I hadn't dealt with the source of my anger and hatred, the source of my self-loathing. It wasn't till I met a counsellor — who was Jewish — in 2005. I went through about 1,000 hours of one-on-one and group counselling and really got to the root of who I was. In that first counselling session, I didn't want to tell the counsellor about everything that I had done. The more I tell him, the more he starts smiling at me. I go, 'What's so funny?' and he goes 'You know I'm Jewish, right?' I fell back into my chair. My cheeks flushed with shame. Here's a man who wanted to help me. We'd become friends at this point, he wanted to heal me, wanted to heal my family. And here I am knowing that I'd once advocated for the annihilation of him and his people. He said, 'That's what you did. That's not who you are. I see you.' And with that began a journey of running toward the pain and the anger and the wounds that I've been running away from my entire life. The more he connected me to my humanity, the more I could recognize the humanity in others. And the more I could connect to the humanity in others, the more I could recognize the humanity in myself. For people who have friends or family members who they see going down this path and might be wondering if there's any way to help them, what is your advice? You're not going to intellectually convince them. We want to challenge the ideas. It's not about the ideology. The ideology is how it's expressing itself. It's often about something much deeper than the ideology. Try listening to the person. Often people's grievance is real, what they do with the grievance is completely out of line. But sometimes they have a legitimate reason to be angry. We just try and listen to them. Just because you listen to someone doesn't mean you accept their values. And just because you listen to someone doesn't mean you are compromising your values. It's very important that we learn to call out behaviours, we call out ideology, call out the activity, but we need to call the human being in. If dehumanization is at the core of this, then we need to rehumanize them. The way that we rehumanize people is through compassion. When we're compassionate to someone, we hold a mirror up and allow that person to see their humanity reflected back at them. And that's how we can help rehumanize people.
