Cropland in the Overberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape province. (Nini/E+/Getty Images)

South African plan to allow land expropriation fails to pass

Constitutional amendment defeated by ruling ANC's opponents on both sides

Johannesburg | Reuters –– A proposal to change South Africa’s constitution to explicitly allow expropriation of land with no compensation failed to win the two-thirds of parliamentary votes that it needed on Tuesday. Lawmakers debated whether to change Section 25 of the constitution to enable authorities to seize land to address racial land inequalities left […] Read more



Schoepp: It’s harder for women to put food on table when they’re paid less

Schoepp: It’s harder for women to put food on table when they’re paid less

Many women make one-third less than men doing similar work

Reading Time: 3 minutes One in seven Canadians is food insecure. I wondered: Just who are the food insecure throughout this vast nation? Where do they live and what is the relationship between food security, location, culture or income? Those persons who are the most food insecure in Canada live in remote places. The population of Nunavut is 57 […] Read more

The road view at Tank Hill is dramatic enough: A huge section of Highway 1 was washed away. But it is the aerial view that shows the full scope of the washout — and the amount of restoration work needed. (Tank Hill is located in the Thompson Canyon just east of Lytton, where the Thompson River meets the Fraser River.)

B.C. floods put the spotlight on ‘vulnerable’ rail corridor

Transport sector needs to ‘learn our lessons’ after unprecedented number of washouts and slides

Reading Time: 6 minutes It could take months for grain movement to fully recover from the catastrophic flooding in B.C. that buried rail lines in mud and debris or washed away the ground under the tracks. And the unprecedented damage has highlighted the risk that Prairie farmers face in getting their grain to port. “The rail system there has […] Read more


(CBSA via YouTube)

Canada shuts to seven African countries’ travelers

Latest COVID-19 variant spurs decision

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is closing its borders to foreign travelers who have recently been to seven southern African nations to help stop the spread of a newly identified variant of COVID-19, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters Friday. The European Union, the United States and Britain are among those tightening border controls as […] Read more

Nampa and District Museum director Carson Murphy (left to right), and Shannon Gadsby and Richard Helgeson of the Nampa and District Historical Society in a former United Church donated to the society for $1. The building will be turned into a multi-purpose space and an extension of the museum.

Host of groups receiving grants for community projects

Reading Time: 2 minutes Five Alberta communities are sharing $100,000 from the Rural Communities Foundation, a charitable arm of UFA. The largest portion, $30,000 went to the Nampa and District Historical Society, which is converting a no-longer-used United Church (that had been donated to it) into a cultural centre in the community southeast of Peace River. Another donated church […] Read more


Agricultural societies boosted by grants

Reading Time: < 1 minute Two Alberta groups received $10,000 each from Rocky Mountain Equipment’s ‘Right by You’ funding program for ag societies. The Marwayne Ag Society is using its grant to purchase a new hockey score clock for its arena while the Drumheller Stampede and Agricultural Society will build an 18-basket disc golf course, which it describes as “a […] Read more

File photo of a CN locomotive in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

CN to reopen to Vancouver Wednesday

Prince Rupert also available, CN reminds shippers

Canadian National Railway (CN) says it’s almost set to resume some service to Vancouver, starting early Wednesday. Montreal-based CN said in an emailed statement Tuesday that repair work on damaged sections of its track from Kamloops to Vancouver “progressed well over the weekend” and the line will reopen to “limited traffic” tomorrow “barring any unforeseen […] Read more



GM’s CAMI assembly plant at Ingersoll, Ont. (GM.ca)

GM aims to tackle chip shortage with new designs

Chip-making investments to be in U.S., Canada

Reuters — General Motors aims to tackle the global semiconductor shortage with new designs built in North America, president Mark Reuss said on Thursday. Reuss told an investor conference GM is working with seven chip suppliers on three new families of microcontrollers that will reduce the number of unique chips by 95 per cent on […] Read more