ETA Canada Travel Pass News

Domestic marijuana companies are seeking help from the federal government, saying that their survival is threatened by high tax rates and strict regulations.

Five CEOs of major marijuana companies held a press conference in Ottawa on the 15th and discussed the scale of job cuts and closures of production facilities.

On this day, they complained that the high consumption tax was one of the obstacles to the company’s growth, and that the consumption tax rate of 2.3% over the past year, when prices soared, was too much of a burden.

Canopy Growth, one of Canada’s largest marijuana producers, recently announced it would lay off 800 people, or 35% of its workforce, and close some of its Smith Falls, Ontario facility.

Jonathan Wilson, CEO of Crystal Cure in New Brunswick, called on the federal government to reconsider its consumption tax rate. He argued that the exorbitant consumption tax was blocking opportunities for new producers to enter the industry as well as existing companies.

According to the report, marijuana business investors collectively lost more than $131 billion last year. Accordingly, major companies have started businesses according to the promise of the federal government that guaranteed profitability, but they expect immediate action from the government, saying that profits are plummeting.

Another unidentified balloon was found and shot down over Canada.

Including the shooting down of a reconnaissance balloon that invaded the U.S. mainland via Canada earlier this month over the Atlantic Ocean on the 4th, it is already the third similar incident in a week.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on the 11th that he had ordered the downing of an unidentified object that had invaded Canadian airspace, and that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) shot down the object in Yukon, northern Canada.

Unlike such a thorough air defense network, South Korea is facing global embarrassment because it is not even able to defend against North Korean drones while being close to hostile North Korea.

Prior to Prime Minister Trudeau’s announcement, the North American Air Command said, “a high-altitude flying object has been spotted over northern Canada and fighters are operational.”

The unidentified organization was immediately pursued by Canadian and American fighters, and the American F-22 fighter successfully shot down the mission.

The U.S. media reported that this downing is similar to the one that a U.S. fighter jet found and shot down a high-altitude object over the northeastern coast of Alaska the day before. The collection of the wreckage of the balloon (balloon) that was shot down that day was delayed due to strong winds and strong winds.

It has not yet been confirmed which country the balloon was shot down over Yukon, Canada, and what its purpose was.

Prime Minister Trudeau said the Canadian military would retrieve and analyze the remains of the object.

The US estimates that China has sent reconnaissance balloons to 40 countries around the world to collect military intelligence.

In this regard, the U.S. Department of Commerce added five companies and one research institute involved in China’s reconnaissance balloon development to its list of export sanctions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hinted at easing visa requirements for visitors in the future.

At a meeting with Algonquin university students held in Ottawa on the 10th, the Prime Minister said, “The current issuance process is based on proving that the applicant does not intend to reside in Canada permanently.”

“If you want to visit your child studying abroad, it is not right to explain the current situation to the immigration officer in detail,” he said. “We also recently agreed with the immigration minister.”

The answer came as an international student explained to the Prime Minister that while he was hospitalized for seven months, his parents had applied for a visa to visit Canada but had been rejected twice.

“It is the Department of Immigration’s fault for refusing visitation from the parents under these circumstances,” Trudeau said.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser’s office said recently that it was studying ways to make it easier for foreigners to obtain visas to visit family members living in Canada.

The federal government’s rigid visa issuance rules have been making headlines around the world lately. The Department of Immigration has refused to issue visas to hundreds of scholars who will be attending a meeting in Montreal next month on the grounds that they cannot prove the possibility of returning home after the event is over.

They presented air tickets, their income, and the evidence they received for attending the meeting, but the Immigration Department was adamant.

Also last year, the African delegation, which was scheduled to attend an international conference on AIDS in Montreal, was denied a visa, and the federal government at the time faced accusations of racial discrimination.

Mandatory submission of negative confirmation by April 5

The federal government has extended the mandatory pre-inspection, which is being implemented as a corona quarantine measure, to April 5 for those arriving by air from China.

From the 5th of last month, the federal government made it mandatory for travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau to submit a corona negative confirmation before boarding the aircraft, scheduled for a month.

Pre-screening and negative confirmation are applied regardless of nationality or vaccination status of entrants, and entrants transiting through Canada are also included.

Regarding the extension of quarantine measures, the government said it was a decision for ‘preemptive prevention’ and said, “As additional data and evidence are secured, we will continue to check whether it will continue.”

A woman who was fined for being caught on a speed camera (ASE) in Toronto has won after an appeal.

Omar Ramroof was caught on camera on August 15, 2021, driving at 121 km/h on Avenue Road, where the speed limit is 50 km/h.
The ticket was issued to her owner, Omar Ramroof, but the driver was her son, Blaine Kumar.

Faced with a fine of about $1,400, she appealed, and in December a Ontario court reversed the fine against the vehicle’s owner, saying police failed to provide technical details about the accuracy of the camera’s recordings. Her son swore in court that he was never speeding.

Legal experts say the case is one of the rare cases of speed camera detection that has been dismissed, raising questions about the credibility of Toronto’s speed cameras, which have already issued more than 500,000 tickets.

Lawyers for Lam Roof argued that speed cameras were not checked daily and were vulnerable to vandalism, and that she could not trust them. Rather than blocking speeding vehicles, he said these cameras only target taxpayers with fines.

The City of Toronto is reviewing the ruling but said an acquittal does not mean the speed camera system is inaccurate.

Officer David Powers, who verified the photos, testified in court that the camera readings were accurate, but could not explain how the ASE system worked or when the device was installed.

In particular, he couldn’t answer when the camera’s accuracy calibration was last done. Speed cameras are legally required to be checked for accuracy every 12 months, but they failed to provide concrete evidence that the tests were conducted normally.

Judge Rodriguez, who ruled in the case, determined that the prosecution had failed to substantively prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the vehicle was speeding.

If you are a homeowner in Toronto, even if your house is not vacant, you must file your ‘Vacant Home Tax’ report by the 2^nd of February.

Vacancy tax is levied on houses that are vacant for more than six months in a year, but it is mandatory to report the state of occupancy even if the house is not vacant. If you miss the filing deadline, you could be fined $250, and the house may be considered vacant, and you may have to pay taxes.

Reporting is simple. It is available on the City of Toronto website (www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/) and requires the identification number (Assessment Roll Number and Customer Number) written on the property tax bill.

The vacant house tax is a tax levied by the city of Toronto from this year to prevent real estate speculation and increase rental supply, and the tax rate is 1%.

For example, if the owner of a $1 million home leaves the house vacant for an extended period of time, he or she will have to pay $10,000 in taxes per year. However, cases where the landlord has died, is in a hospital or long-term care facility, is undergoing major repairs or renovations, or is in the process of legal transfer of ownership are exempt from taxation.

We will have to wait another 20 years before the public can easily access and use some of the treasured creations of late Canadian celebrities.

The revision of the Copyright Act, which took effect from the end of the year, extended the copyright protection period for Canadian authors or creators from 50 years to 70 years after death.

This foreshadows that Canada will remain at a standstill in the cultural sector until 2043, when many copyrights expire.

It seems like a small change, but it will have a negative impact on Canada’s cultural development over the next 20 years, falling below expectations.

Anyone can use creative works for which copyright has expired. It also includes copyrights that have already passed 50 years after death.

For example, anyone could create a new volume 2 based on Mary Shelley’s creation of Frankenstein, using characters from that book.

It is not illegal for theater and filmmakers to remake Shakespeare’s novel ‘Hamlet’ into a modern version and put it on stage. A painter can create a new work by partially copying Van Gogh’s painting ‘Sunflowers’.

All copyrights have expired, so anyone can do it without the permission of the original author, writer, survivors of the creator, or the heritage manager.

However, in Canada, copyright protection has been extended for 20 years, so citizens cannot use valuable creations during that time. Copyright protection includes all cultural creations authored or created by Canadian citizens, either domestically or abroad.

For example, the public cannot freely use the works of Prime Minister Lester Pearson, Gabriel Roy (French novelist, general and children’s), novelist Margaret Lawrence, musician Glenn Gould, masscom scholar Marshall McLuhan, and poet and novelist Gwendoline McEwan. Although their books have become very popular, thousands more are not printed. Therefore, people can only find it on the bookshelves of the library. This marks a period of cultural dormancy for the country.

Libraries are busy converting out-of-copyright creations digitally with the support of Internet libraries such as the Internet Archive and Hathitrust.

The need for digitization work will continue to increase. However, if the copyright period does not expire, the library’s digitization work will be limited.

Why did the Canadian government allow such an extension?

In return for the US ratification of the North American Trade Agreement CUSMA (formerly NAFTA), Canada accepted the US request and agreed to the copyright extension.

The government listened to public opinion about this through public hearings but ignored all proposals for the conclusion of the North American Treaty.

The government needs to reconsider the proposals advocated by libraries and academia.

Very few copyright holders benefit from the 20-year extension, but the rest of the people do not benefit culturally. The government’s measures are disappointing.

A luxury condo in downtown was sold without the owner’s knowledge. This is the third case of fraud of this type in Toronto alone this year.

According to documents provided by Mohui Yu, a 24-year-old Chinese citizen currently residing in Hubei Province, China, his high-rise Aura condominium was put up for sale on May 11 last year for $978,000 and sold nine days later for $970,000.

The buyer received a mortgage from the bank in June and transferred ownership.

However, Mr. Yoo said he had never put the condo up for sale. He claims that a fraudster who stole his name entered the vacant house without his knowledge, took pictures, and sold the house by tricking brokers and lawyers with fake IDs.

Yoo bought this condo for $800,000 when he studied abroad in Toronto in 2017.

“The best defense against scams like this is to buy title insurance,” said Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association.

“On average, insurance premiums are about $1 for every $1,000 in property value. If you have a $500,000 condo, your premium is $500,” he added.

Hudak said that this type of scam targets owners who have been away for extended periods of time, and that real estate agents, lawyers and mortgage banks should scrutinize sellers more closely.

Meanwhile, on the 13th, there was an attempt to sell real estate in Toronto by stealing the name of the landlord. A week ago, a duo of male and female swindlers secretly sold someone else’s house using fake IDs.

Federal police last month arrested a man in Richmond, B.C., who had been using an ID counterfeiting machine to create fake IDs.

Police said they found stolen credit cards and fake permanent resident cards, high-end computers, printers, and coating equipment at the man’s home.

Among the items seized were thousands of identity card templates that can be used to print driver’s licenses in Ontario, Alberta, and Washington.

The police said the suspects used expensive printers and coating machines worth 5,000 dollars each and forged ID cards so sophisticatedly that ordinary people could easily be fooled.

According to the police investigation, forgers often stole documents containing personal information from household trash and recyclables, and then used these images and information to forge ID cards.

Police warned that counterfeiters could use fake IDs to obtain personal credit as well as mortgages, as well as purchase luxuries such as cars and expensive watches.

The man is now released on bail and is being investigated on parole pending conviction of the crime. The suspect’s identity has not been released.

Toronto police have charged a 13-year-old boy who allegedly used a toy gun to steal money from a fellow student in a school bathroom.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of the 17th at Rano Middle School near Etobiko Browns Line/Evans Avenue.

Police have not disclosed information regarding how many students were in the bathroom at the time of the incident. Officers who arrived at the scene after the incident confiscated a toy gun. No injuries were reported.

Police announced on the 18th that they had charged the boy with two counts of armed robbery.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, there is a growing voice calling for measures to be taken against the recent series of gun-related accidents in schools. The incident comes a week after a school volunteer was injured when a student fired a handgun in an East York high school bathroom on the 12th.

Toronto has seen a dramatic increase in gun violence over the past few years, with the number of gun incidents increasing annually. In response, Toronto has implemented several new gun laws to reduce gun violence in the city.

As of 2019, the city of Toronto has enacted several new laws designed to reduce gun violence. These laws include a ban on the sale of handguns and assault rifles within the city, and a ban on the possession of handguns and assault rifles within the city. The city also implemented a new “gun-free zone” ordinance which restricts the possession of firearms in certain areas of the city, such as schools and parks.

Despite the new laws, gun violence in Toronto increased in 2019, with the number of homicides, shootings, and gun-related incidents all increasing. According to Toronto Police, there were a total of 4,611 gun-related incidents in 2019, with 1,142 deaths and 4,413 people injured. This is a 19% increase from 2018, when there were 3,880 gun-related incidents.

To effectively reduce gun violence, Toronto must continue to implement more laws and policies, as well as increasing the number of police officers patrolling the streets and surveillance cameras in public areas. Additionally, the city must continue to encourage citizens to turn in their firearms through the gun buyback program and educate the public on gun safety. With these measures, Toronto can reduce gun violence in the city and make it a safer place for everyone.