What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
They've dazzled audiences and performed all over with the Musical Ride but for the first time, the RCMP is hoping Canadians can help their jet black horses enjoy retirement.
The RCMP Musical Ride routinely retires horses due to age or medical reasons but until this year, the RCMP's Divestment of Horses Program was only open to charities, non-profit organizations or other levels of government.
The Musical Ride has a separate program that auctions off horses – who don't meet the Breeding Program's requirements either due to their size, temperament or colouring – to members of the public.
"This is super exciting for us," RCMP Riding Master Sgt. Maj. Scott Williamson said. "For us, it's all about the horse and ensuring that the horse gets what is best suited for it, and this is what we believe would be best suited for many of the horses."
The RCMP says it is looking for people who have the space, finances and equestrian background necessary to care for a horse, especially one who may be older or has medical needs. In most cases the RCMP says the Hanoverians being retired are no longer able to ride.
"A home that's full of love," says Williamson when asked what his ideal candidate can provide. "A home that is going to be there for that horse and care for (it), give it everything that it needs, because that is what we've done with the horses and that's what we expect will be done."
The response to the request for applications has been far beyond what the RCMP says it ever expected. In less than 24 hours, the program received about 1,600 applications.
At any given time, the Musical Ride has about 140 horses in its programs.
"It completely took us off guard. We were not prepared for that," Williamson said. "But that in itself is super exciting because that tells me that there's going to be somebody in there that is going to be very well suited for one of these horses and it tells me how excited Canadians are to receive one of our horses."
Grace McDuffe from Port Dover, Ont., is hoping she's one of the lucky few selected. A lifelong horse lover and coach, McDuffe also knows what it's like to own and love an RCMP horse. Her beloved Bronx, who was bred by the RCMP and initially sold as a three year old, died this summer at age 19.
"He was really special, almost like a person," McDuffe said. "He just seemed to get it and that's what they breed for and look for in an animal."
McDuffe purchased Bronx when he was 17 and says she knows what it takes mentally, physically and financially to support an older horse or one with medical needs. She's hoping to honour Bronx by bringing home one of his siblings.
"We know the costs involved can be great," she said. "But they really are priceless, older horses. They come with so much wisdom and knowledge and history that we found it really enriching to have them."
Applications for the RCMP's Divestment of Horses Program have temporarily closed. The RCMP says all applications will be thoroughly vetted and those that meet the requirements will be kept on file for when a new horse enters retirement.
"This is going to ebb and flow," Williamson said. "There's going to be times and years I'd say that where you might not have any horses available. There might be other years where multiple horses will be available."
Right now, the RCMP says it is strongly considering one horse for retirement, with a few more likely ready to go later this year or early next year.
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.
Mookie Betts went 3 for 5, including a triple and an RBI single, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Saturday.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”