'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Retail sales in Canada stumbled for the second month in a row after two straight months of gains, a sign of the rocky road ahead as Canada staggers out of the pandemic's economic recession.
The 2.1 per cent decline in retail sales in May came as many retailers continued to face closures amid the third wave of COVID-19, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
In a nod to the erratic economic situation, the federal agency provided an advance estimate for June retail sales, which it expects will climb 4.4 per cent as stores began to reopen.
“The decline in May sales numbers is not surprising given the ongoing shutdowns that were in place at the time, particularly in Ontario,” Retail Council of Canada spokeswoman Michelle Wasylyshen said in an email.
“The real test will be next month's numbers, which will show the effects of reopening.”
Sales decreased in eight of 11 subsectors in May, representing more than 65 per cent of the country's retail trade.
The biggest drop was recorded at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers, which fell 11.3 per cent.
Sales in the clothing and clothing accessories category declined 11.2 per cent, with nearly a quarter shuttered for an average of six days during the month. Within the subsector, clothing stores saw an 11.6 per cent decrease in sales, falling to their lowest level since May 2020.
“Apparel sales have continued to languish throughout the pandemic and have been largely impacted by changes in consumer behaviour,” Wasylyshen with the retail council said. “We are hopeful that this sector will rebound in the months ahead as offices reopen and people return to work.”
Meanwhile, the motor vehicle and parts industry experienced a 2.4 per cent decrease in May.
Receipts rose 0.8 per cent at food and beverage stores and 0.9 per cent at businesses selling gasoline.
Statistics Canada said 5.6 per cent of retailers used to calculate its monthly numbers were closed at some point in May, compared with about 5 per cent the month before.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2021.
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.