Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
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."
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
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.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.