Boozy budget draws criticism
Tailgate parties, longer hours for licenced restaurants to serve booze and a pledge to get alcohol into more stores. That is some of what the first Ford government budget promised Ontarians. That prompted the interim Liberal leader to comment he doesn’t understand the obsession with alcohol. Other highlights include free dental care for low income seniors, a childcare tax credit, and a pledge to reduce auto insurance rates. The province says Ontario’s books will be balanced in five years, after the next provincial election.
Liberals quash Tory motion into leaks
The federal Liberals have used their majority to prevent an investigation into leaked information of a dispute between the PM and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould. The Conservatives were calling on the federal justice committee to investigate a leak that Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould argued over who should be chief justice of the Supreme Court. The Liberals called the Tory motion a plan to drag out the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Britain’s official opposition leader tweets about Assange arrest
Britain’s Labour Party says the U.K. should oppose the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The leader tweeted that the U.S. is only trying to extradite the whistleblower because he exposed evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange was arrested yesterday.
Hospital privacy curtains may carry dangerous bacteria
It is something you may want to think about next time you’re in a hospital. American researchers tested over 15-hundred privacy curtains and found that between 11 to 25 percent contained dangerous bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. Researchers say better handwashing can help.
Swiss government ends coffee stockpiling
If you are enjoying your cup of joe this morning, this may jar you awake. The Swiss government has decided coffee beans are not essential for life and is ending its emergency stockpile of coffee by 2022. The average Swiss drinks almost double the amount of a North American in a year, but the government says because it doesn’t have calories it is not essential to safeguarding nutrition.