Although avian flu has now spread its way into every Canadian province save P.E.I., the past week in food news also served up a selection of positive stories that helped to balance out the bad.
From a new community hub in Saint John that is providing free food and resources to local LGBTQ2 students to the City of Calgary relaxing patio regulations for the third year in a row, to a simple phone call from Nova Scotia woman resulting in a big change within the region’s lobster industry, here are five food stories you might have missed this week.
Alberta now has the most confirmed cases of avian flu
According to new data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Alberta recently overtook Ontario as the province with the most cases of avian flu in Canada. The data suggests that roughly 600,000 birds have been impacted in Alberta alone, while the number of euthanized birds across Canada is now estimated at a staggering 1,372,400.
Head to CTV News for more.
New LGBTQ2 community hub opens in Saint John
A new community hub opened this week in Saint John that aims to provide safe spaces for the region’s LGBTQ2 community. The space, which has been dubbed Adoringly Shire, offers both social and student resources, as well as free lunches (donated by local eatery Slocum and Ferris) to LGBTQ2 students and allies from nearby schools.
Head to Global News to read the story in full.
City of Calgary to wave patio permit fees
This week, for the third consecutive year, the City of Calgary announced that it will be relaxing patio regulations. In addition to waiving fees for businesses applying for a patio permit, the city will also allow seasonal patios to be located in parking or curbside lanes.
Visit CBC News for a full breakdown.
B.C. government responds to Freshii’s Percy the robot
Following last week’s news that a robot named Percy had replaced in-store employees at an Ontario Freshii restaurant and the subsequent outrage from across the country, B.C.’s Labour Minister issued a statement saying that the government is working on a new plan to protect workers and will be reviewing labour legislation on gig economies.
Find the full story at Global News.
Nova Scotia woman sparks big change in lobster industry pollution control
The founder of Scotian Shores—a business dedicated to cleaning the shorelines of Nova Scotia—was in the news this week after she contacted a local lobster processing plant about an increased presence of lobster bands across the province’s shoreline.
To the surprise of many, the company has since begun implementing numerous ways to control its refuse, including installing a series of homemade pipe socks to the discharge pipes that flow into neighbouring bodies of water.
Find the full story at CBC News.
