Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
In a small church about an hour away from Ottawa, a community of knitters is working to keep the memory of one Canadian war veteran alive.
Sitting at a table covered in colourful balls of yarn, Shirley O'Connell picks up her needles and begins work on the feet of another Izzy doll. Since 2005, the Perth, Ont. resident has made thousands of the tiny dolls named after Master Cpl. Mark Isfeld.
For O'Connell, the knitting is a community-building hobby that also helps fulfill a meaningful pledge she made to Isfeld's mom, Carol, in 2007.
"The night before Carol passed away she had her husband, Brian, contact me to see if I would continue the legacy that she had started in Mark's memory," O'Connell said. "It was important for her to know something so precious to her and her son would continue on, and so I made a promise I would."
Master Cpl. Mark (Izzy) Isfeld served with the 1st Combat Engineering Regiment when he was deployed to Croatia as part of a UN Peacekeeping mission. During his deployment, Isfeld saw many children with no personal belongings, no toys and no home. So, after seeing a doll in the rubble, he asked his mom to make a small toy that he could carry with him and give to the children he bumped into.
"It was something — as a Canadian — she could do, but it brought peace to Mark to be able to give these dolls to the children," O'Connell said. "He became known as the soldier who collected little hearts and handshakes and little smiles."
It is estimated that about two million dolls have been hand-stitched and distributed to kids around the world. Last month, roughly 60 dolls were given to the United Nations Association in Canada who will be taking the dolls to children in Ukraine. (Annie Bergeron-Oliver/CTV News)
On June 21, 1994, at the age of 31, Isfeld was killed in a landmine explosion while serving his country. After his death, his unit asked Isfeld's mom to make more of the dolls so they could distribute them in his honour. The unit named the tiny toys Izzy.
"Everyone was aware of Mark's compassion and how he expressed it," said Rev. Dr. Peter Bartlett, who was Isfeld's officer commanding at the time of his death.
Nearly 30 years later, it is estimated that about two million dolls have been hand-stitched and distributed to kids around the world. Last month, roughly 60 dolls were given to the United Nations Association in Canada who will be taking the dolls to children in Ukraine.
"It is just amazing and speaks so clearly to Mark's heart and his compassion and his sense of service," said Bartlett.
To this day, each doll comes with a tag that says: “IZZY DOLL Made for you with love in memory of Mark Isfeld killed in Kakma, Croatia, June 21st 1994, while removing landmines serving with One Combat Engineer Regiment, United Nations Protection Force."
Izzy doll patterns are available online for free online and the dolls cannot be sold or purchased.
Rideau Park United Church in Ottawa, Compassionate Resources Warehouse in Victoria and Health Partners International in Toronto are among the locations accepting donations of Izzy dolls.
"There is such a need. It never dies out. There is always an interest," O'Connell said. "It's a way of Canadians sending a little love and a little hug to children around the world."
This year, Isfeld's story is being highlighted as part of the Legion's Poppy Stories Initiative that allows people to connect virtually to Canadian veterans when their poppy is scanned on a mobile device.
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.
A Calgary elementary school principal has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities announced Monday.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is downplaying what staff describe as a cockroach infestation in a medical unit of Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
One of the winners of a historic US$1.3 billion Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.
The clock is ticking ahead of the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return. A personal finance expert explains why you should get them done -- even if you owe more than you can pay.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
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.