Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Staff and residents at a Newfoundland retirement home are rejoicing after the province's health minister said they can once again hold dances – a ban lifted with the help of a music video.
Seniors at the Alderwood Retirement Centre in Witless Bay, N.L. had been fully vaccinated for months and couldn’t understand why the province was telling personal care homes that dances were still prohibited while other restrictions were being lifted.
“They felt as people who were doubly vaccinated and were in one bubble… they couldn't wrap their mind around why they still couldn't dance," Alderwood recreational director Renee Houlihan told CTV News Channel on Thursday.
In an effort to fight the dance ban, the Alderwood residents put out a music video last Friday that showed them dancing to the theme song from the 1984 movie 'Footloose,' which was fittingly set in a town where dancing is illegal.
"With this dance prohibition, we all said, 'That's it, we're going to have to do something.' So, we all sat around, had a cup of tea, and we did some brainstorming and Footloose was born," Houlihan said.
The video eventually caught the attention of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister John Haggie, who clarified that personal care homes can once again host dances and thanked the Alderwood residents for raising the issue.
"It was never really our intent to restrict those once vaccination levels rose. We've clarified that in an email to personal care homes today. I thank the Footloose fans for bringing it to my attention," Haggie told reporters in a news conference on Wednesday.
Alderwood resident Teresa Bowen, who was one of the stars of the Footloose video, told CTV News Channel it felt "wonderful" to hear that dances would once again be allowed.
"For us Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, I mean, we grew up on dance. As long as you could put your feet on the floor, you were taught how to dance," Bowden said.
The announcement, as well as the shoutout from the minister, prompted celebrations at Alderwood.
"Oh my gosh, we were shocked, we were jubilant. We were triumphant. We were high fiving, we were fist-bumping. Everyone was going off their head, as we say in Newfoundland. We were so thrilled," Houlihan said. "And what Minister Haggie did at that point was that he validated the voice of seniors, and we did it amicably."
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres and other alerts have been issued for six Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
A bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter festival plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said.
Calgary police shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers dealt with a distraught individual. The incident lasted almost 20 hours.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.