|
Written by Jane Gerster Copy Editor, Digital News
|
|
|
|
Good morning. Concerns are being raised that not enough is being done to crack down on mislabelling foreign food as Canadian-made. Meanwhile, Ontario is cracking down on ticket resellers. Plus, bitter disappointment in a Kenyan refugee camp after a Nova Scotia employer walks back 18 job offers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FEATURED STORIES
|
|
|
 |
(Submitted by Steve Palmer)
|
|
|
Sobeys, Loblaw under fire for maple washing
|
|
|
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has identified 127 cases of retailers promoting imported products as homegrown since the start of 2025, but fines are rare.
What's happening: The Buy Canadian movement has led many grocery stores to label products as being made in Canada, even if they don't fit the bill. CBC News has learned the CFIA hit two Loblaw-owned stores with $10,000 fines earlier this year and formally warned two others. Sobeys was also investigated, though the agency says there have been no fines owing to "corrective actions," which might be a nod to the fact that maple leaf labelling appears to have disappeared from their stores.
Why it matters: Shopper Steve Palmer, who's identified mislabelled oranges and walnuts and taken the fight directly to the CFIA, is "horrified with the length of time this has gone on" without fines. Even if more stores were fined, the maximum penalty is $15,000 per violation. That's well below the maximum $10 million fine for misleading advertising that businesses face under the Competition Act.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Ontario crackdown on ticket resales has begun
|
|
|
Are ticket resale platforms complying with Ontario's new law that caps prices at face value? The province is on the case.
What's happening: Letters went out to ticket brokers and resellers, such as StubHub and SeatGeek, letting them know inspections are underway this week, Stephen Crawford, the province's minister of public and business service delivery and procurement, told CBC News. Under the new law, fines range from $3,000 to $250,000.
Why it matters: Some sites are still selling tickets well above face value. For instance, StubHub offers Bruno Mars tickets valued at $193.13 for $1,710. And that's not including taxes (gulp). Still, companies say they're moving to comply, despite confusion around the new law, including whether it applies retroactively. But how much will the change help? Experts expect people to be driven off verified sites in favour of unofficial channels where they're more likely to get scammed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kenyan refugees promised jobs in Canada, but saw them rescinded at the 11th hour
|
|
|
Eighteen refugees had long-standing job offers pulled by Northwood, a continuing care organization in Nova Scotia, leaving them stranded in Kenya.
What's happening: The job offers, extended in 2022 and 2023 as part of Canada's Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, were rescinded last August in the "very late stages," according to the organization that helped make the connections. Northwood says the jobs were offered "in good faith," but that the delays plaguing the federal program were such that the jobs were ultimately filled locally.
Why it matters: The feds temporarily paused the program earlier this year, saying there were too many applications, though they still plan to process the 3,900 already underway. That means some of the 18 refugees could still come to Canada, though others have already had their cases closed. The impact is brutal, says Juma Asukulu Shauri, who has lived in a UN refugee camp for 16 years. "For almost three years they are giving us hope," said the father of five, who fled Congo after his sisters and father were killed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
