CSI Blog & Newsroom

Photographer: Nicolas Jehly

“Passengers on two Air Transat flights were stuck on planes at the Ottawa airport for hours on Monday after being diverted due to stormy weather, and at least two of them called 911,” wrote Kristy Nease for CBC News on August 1, 2017.

Nease continued, “Air Transat flight 157 from Brussels was scheduled to arrive in Montreal at 3:15 p.m. ET Monday, but was diverted to Ottawa after circling east of Montreal due to thunderstorms.

The flight landed at the Ottawa airport just after 5 p.m. ET, after more than eight hours of flying time.

It then sat on the tarmac for six hours, and passengers weren’t allowed to get off. Laura Mah, who was on board, spoke to CBC News as they waited.

“The plane actually lost power and went zero AC [air conditioning], and then now we’ve got the doors open and one kid is puking, and people are just losing their minds,” she said.

“They’re just getting mad, saying ‘This is not all right, this is not OK, you can’t do this to us.’ The police are in here and the fire department’s in here and they’re telling us that they can’t do anything, that we just have to stay put.”

The hundreds of passengers weren’t given much information about what was going on, Mah said. They were told that the plane needed to be refueled, and then they were told that the fuel truck had run out of fuel.

One of the passengers eventually called 911, Mah said. Paramedics arrived and the Ottawa International Airport Authority handed out water to the stranded, hot passengers.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Ilya Yakover

“Imagine you’re at an ATM. You go through the motions, hitting the appropriate buttons to complete your transaction, and collect your cash. Just as you turn to leave, you spot a piece of paper slide through the receipt slot with what appears to be a note scrawled on it. You grab it to see what it says,” wrote Trevor Mogg for Digital Trends on July 14, 2017.

Mogg continued, ” “Please help. I’m stuck in here and I don’t have my phone. Please call my boss on …”

You’re probably going to react in one of several ways. You might take a quick look around to check there isn’t some YouTube prankster filming you from afar. Or you might consider visiting the doc for a full health check. Then again, you might actually believe that there’s someone trapped inside the machine and decide to call the number.

The ATM user in Corpus Christi, Texas who recently experienced the above scenario opted for none of the above, instead choosing to grab the attention of a passing cop.

The pair approached the ATM, leaning in to confirm whether or not there really was someone stuck inside. To their surprise, they could hear “a little voice” coming from within.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Drew Coffman

“Finance Minister Bill Morneau is proposing to close loopholes that allow wealthy Canadians to avoid higher tax rates, largely by targeting people who incorporate themselves and then draw income from their businesses while paying lower corporate taxes,” wrote John Paul Tasker for CBC News on July 18, 2017.

Tasker continued, “There has been an eight-fold increase in the number of corporations in Canada since the 1970s, while the gap between personal tax and business tax rates has grown significantly. As of 2017, there is a 37.2 per cent gap, meaning income derived from a business faces a much lower tax burden.

Morneau wants to curtail so-called “income sprinkling,” a tax move that allows business owners — often professionals like doctors and lawyers — to distribute money to family members who earn less, allowing income to be taxed at a lower rate.

Morneau plans to impose a “reasonableness” test so this does not punish legitimate family businesses. That test will determine just how much work a family member actually does at a business, and if they can really lay claim to profits. Approximately 50,000 Canadian families will be affected by this change, Finance Canada estimates.

The measure is meant to level the playing field, and to avoid advantages business owners have over employees who earn money from a salary.

A business owner earning $220,000 a year can pay up to $35,000 less in taxes by using sprinkling tactics and distributing income to family members. The government will extend income splitting rules that currently apply to minors — colloquially called the “kiddie tax” — to adults in certain circumstances.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Jamie Hamel-Smith

“After years of safety warnings and reports of injuries from wire-bristle brushes used to clean barbecue grills, Health Canada has begun a risk assessment that could potentially stop the sale of the brushes,” wrote Vera-Lynn Kubinec for CBC News on July 17, 2017.

Kubinec continued, “The risk assessment follows nine incident reports Health Canada has received since 2011 about different brands of barbecue brushes, CBC News has learned.

The problem is that sharp wire bristles can come off the brushes, become stuck in food cooked on the grills and cause injury when they’re accidentally ingested.

Incident reports, along with increased awareness around the issue, prompted the risk assessment, which began in April and is expected to be finished by late summer, said Health Canada spokesperson Eric Morrissette.

“Health Canada will evaluate the results of the risk assessment, as well as all other relevant information, to determine what compliance action, if any, should be undertaken,” Morrissette said by email.

“Recall of the product is one of several possible compliance actions.”

Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, Health Canada can take a range of enforcement or corrective measures if a product poses a danger to human health or safety, Morrissette said.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Johannes Plenio

“Gusty winds forecast for the B.C. Interior this weekend could spread wildfires to new parts of the province, an official warns as thousands already are unable to return to their homes,” wrote Mike Laanela for CBC News on July 13, 2017.

Laanela continued, “”Definitely toward the weekend some cold fronts are coming in and bringing some stronger wind patterns,” said Darren Campbell, director of the Emergency Operations Centre for the Cariboo Regional District 

“Most of those weather patterns seem to be in the western part of the region, over in the Chilcotin and the north Cariboo, in areas that have not seen a lot of activity to date,” he said.

“We might be dealing with some new situations in some new areas.”

Campbell said officials are already preparing for any potential issues.

“Certainly we have a window of opportunity over the next few days to prepare any new areas that might become a problem over the weekend,” Campbell.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Hermes Rivera

“”Kids nowadays just don’t know the value of money” is a classic parental complaint.

A decade of low interest rates has made that curmudgeonly folk wisdom truer than ever. And it’s not just kids,” wrote Don Pittis for CBC News on July 11, 2017.

Pittis continued, “Now that Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz has all but announced he is raising interest rates this week, the number of otherwise moderate voices that seem angry may be evidence how true that chestnut is.

“When you are driving towards a red stoplight, you ease up on the accelerator well before you get there instead of waiting for the last second to stop,” Poloz said in a German interview last week.

Essentially the bank governor’s justification for raising rates seems to be that an economy on the go means inflation is just around the corner and that slamming on the interest-rate brakes at the last minute is a bad plan.

That may be true, but there could more to it. As usual, interpreting the words and actions of central bankers is far from simple.

As Poloz has said repeatedly, the bank’s main goal is to keep inflation in check.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Kate Tandy

“With the high cost of real estate in Toronto pricing many first-time homebuyers out of the market, millennials are starting to look outside the city — way outside,” wrote Alexandra Sienkiewicz for CBC News on July 1, 2017.

Sienkiewicz continued, “They’re not looking with the intention of buying a home, but rather buying a recreational property like a cottage, cabin or ski chalet.

A report released this week by RE/MAX and Leger said almost two-thirds of Canadian millennials would consider buying a recreational property in the next 10 years.

Adrienne Atkins, 29, falls into this group, having just recently bought a property in Grand Bend. 

“It’s really unaffordable in the city, I wanted a bit more bang for my buck,” Atkins said. The Yonge and Eglinton resident doesn’t yet know if she’ll make Grand Bend her forever home, but said she would consider moving if she could find flexible work.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Jesse Orrico

“Getting shingles may increase your risk of a heart attack, stroke or other heart problems by as much as 40 per cent, according to Korean researchers,” wrote Thomson Reuters for CBC News on July 3, 2017.

Reuters continued, “But vaccination can help prevent shingles, which is caused by herpes zoster — the same virus that causes chickenpox, study author Dr. Sung-Han Kim of Asan Medical Center in Seoul said in an email.

Individuals should talk with their doctors about preventing shingles “until further studies elucidate the effect of vaccination on cardiovascular outcomes,” Kim said.

Kim and his colleagues analyzed the medical records of more than 23,000 shingles patients between 2003 and 2013, and compared them with the same number of patients who didn’t get shingles. People who got shingles were more likely to be female and have common heart risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and older age, the study found.

But they also were less likely to smoke and they drank less alcohol, got more exercise and were in a higher socioeconomic class, according to the report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.”

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Martin Vorel

“Canadians have heard the message over and over again, from the Bank of Canada, the Parliamentary Budget Office and even the credit industry itself: Personal debt levels are alarmingly high, especially in light of interest rates that are only poised to increase,” wrote Solomon Isreal for CBC News on June 29, 2017.

Isreal continued, “Why aren’t those warnings convincing Canadians to borrow less? The answer may lie in a combination of blissful financial ignorance, economic incentives to keep borrowing and complex subconscious attitudes towards debt.

‘We’re comfortable carrying debt’

Credit counselling experts say many Canadians simply don’t understand how precarious their finances truly are, especially as ballooning home prices and a stable economy make people feel wealthy.

“As long as people are out going to work every day, earning an income, it’s easy to perceive that they’re managing their finances,” said Laurie Campbell, CEO of non-profit Credit Canada Debt Solutions.

Until the fallout from high debt levels leads to a collective economic crisis such as a recession, said Campbell, individual Canadians will continue to ignore the risks.

Read the full article here. 

Photographer: Lena Bell

“Foonie doesn’t really work, so Canadians will have to put on their thinking caps to figure out a name for the $5 coin,” wrote Don Pittis for CBC News on June 27, 2017.

Pittis continued, “As the loonie turns 30 this week, painful though it may be, we must inevitably begin to prepare ourselves to say goodbye to our blue Wilfrids.

This is not an inside scoop from the Bank of Canada; officially there is no plan to kill the bill.

But there is evidence it is already on the minds of Canadians: The Royal Canadian Mint includes a query about a $5 coin in its list of frequently asked questions.

‘Cost-saving measure’

“The decision to issue a new circulation coin is the responsibility of the Canadian government,” says the mint’s answer to that FAQ. “There are currently no plans to make $5 coins or discontinue the $5 bill.”

However the final line of the FAQ could be taken as a hint: “The $2 coin was introduced as a cost-saving measure in 1996.”

In other words, it has been more that 20 years since the last time a bill was replaced by a money-saving coin.

You can see why the mint would want to soften us up in advance.”

Read the full article here.