Around Canada

Amid a reported increase in restaurant insolvencies, Canada’s craft brewers say their razor-thin margins are being sliced even thinner by rising interest rates and production costs, such as production materials, packaging, taxes and transportation.  10-20% of the country’s craft breweries could face closure in 2024, according to an expert. After …

A semi-truck has been impounded and a truck driver has had his licence suspended for 90 days after refusing a breathalyzer test, say Kamloops RCMP. Police say they received a report Wednesday of a truck swerving along Highway 5, failing to signal, and almost hitting a meridian. Traffic officers located …

Quebecers with roots to both sides of the conflict are having difficult conversations about peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories — and how to get there. Some Montrealers still believe in a 2-state solution. Others want a single state for all It was Friday Shabbat, the time of rest …

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is being dubbed “irresponsible” for calling Wednesday’s Rainbow Bridge accident a “terrorist attack” in the House of Commons before authorities could confirm or rule that out. Two people died on the American side of the Niagara Falls border when a speeding car crashed and exploded at …

As some of the wealthiest and most influential people in Newfoundland and Labrador welcomed world leaders inside a St. John’s bar Thursday night, dozens of police officers held back an equal number of protesters outside. Global conflicts, green hydrogen take centre stage as mini summit begins. As some of the …

International networks of sophisticated criminals have claimed untold millions of dollars from Canadian government coffers while facing few to no consequences, an investigation by The Fifth Estate and Radio-Canada’s Enquête has found. $1.1B identified in carousel frauds, agency says. In early 2020, the Canada Revenue Agency came to believe it …

A former Vancouver Canucks prospect has been charged in connection with what police are calling a large-scale financial fraud. Surrey RCMP say its financial crimes unit launched an investigation into Prab Rai, 34, in 2021 after a victim came forward claiming to have lost several million dollars in real estate …

A man alleged to be connected to a complex scheme that leaves homeowners with high-interest mortgages they say they didn’t want flaunts a luxurious lifestyle on social media, while regulators crack down on lawyers and mortgage brokers alleged to be connected to the scheme.  Lawyer and mortgage brokerage facing professional …

A Mauricie, Que., resident won $25,000 a year for life in the lottery game Grande Vie, but decided to instead cash it in for a lump sum prize of $500,000. On Oct. 20, the day after the draw, Pierre Savard received a strange call from a number he did not …

Bridgehead, the coffeehouse chain with many locations in Ottawa, will no longer include managers in tip pools after the issue went to a recent staff vote.  Decision reverses policy change that took effect last month. Bridgehead staff have spoken, and the majority of those who participated in a recent vote …