A new study has found that drinking water in parts of southern Ontario contains traces of several illegal drugs including cocaine and oxycodone.
Researchers form McGill University found the drugs in water discharged from waste-water treatment plants in the Grand River watershed as well as its surface water. The Grand River runs through Kitchener and Waterloo, however the study’s lead author, Viviane Yargeau, is confident similar drugs would be found in rivers across the province, including the Don or the Humber. “The results would be the same,” she said. “Wherever we’ve tested for it, we’ve detected it.”
The study says the drugs are found only in relatively limited quantities in the river water, but their concentration did not decline with distance downstream from the waste-water treatment plant. The study also says that many of the drugs were not removed completely during drinking-water treatment.
The drugs arrive in the water after being excreted by people, Yargeau said. Cocaine is the most common illicit substance her team found, but the precise cocktail varies from location to location. The biggest problem right now, Yargeau says, is that there is no way to know how these drugs are affecting the environment. “We don’t have much information about the toxicity or effect of these illicit drugs on fish, for example,” she said. “There’s a possibility that the fish could be affected. Their behaviour could be different and their survival rates could be affected.”
The aquatic life is not the only problem, as traces of illicit drugs are also being found in drinking water. “It’s very little amounts,” Yargeau said. “But as we’re increasing our population and increasing the use of these drugs, we’re increasing the amount and the cocktail that we discharge.”
More studies are needed to see if the drugs in the water are affecting humans or the environment. However, Yargeau’s next step will be a five-year research project to look into how improvements of waste-water treatment and natural processes along rivers impact the presence of contaminants in drinking water. She advocates for improved wastewater treatment to reduce or eliminate any contamination by drugs or other substances. “We need to do a better job treating our water,” she said. “The technologies do exist, but the issue is investing money to build additional treatment centres and hire the staff to operate them.”
IKEA Canada has a great sale in each store every Wednesday! It’s Wacky Wednesday! The following list includes the IKEA Canada Wacky Wednesday deals and sales that will be valid for only Wednesday!, July 29, 2015.Check out this list provided below before you visit your local Ikea Canada store to take advantage of the savings! If your location has yet to be announced, stay tuned for more details! It’s a 1-day only sale and limited to stock on-hand. IKEA Boucherville:
This Thursday July 30, Shoppers Drug Mart Canada is holding a Seniors’ Bonus Day! If you’re a senior, head into your local Shoppers Drug Mart location and save 20% off your regular priced purchase with a Shoppers Optimum Card. Not only that, but if you spend $50 or more, you’ll receive a $10 bonus card which you can use to save even more on your next Shoppers purchase! These deals are great, and as always, you’ll be earning Optimum points on your purchase that will help you save even more on great Shoppers Drug Mart products in the future!
If you’re not eligible for the seniors’ discount this Thursday, there are still a variety of hot deals you can purchase at Shoppers Drug Mart this week, such as:
$5.99 Royale Velour Bathroom Tissue 12-16 Rolls
25% off select L’Oreal skin products
$21.99 for Huggies or Pampers Super Boxed Diapers
$2.99 for Fructis hair care products
$2.99 for Crest toothpaste 80mL- 170mL
This Senior’s Bonus Offer is valid July 30, 2015 only. The Bonus Card offer is valid only on purchases of $50 or more before taxes. Only one Bonus Card will be given per customer and must be redeemed before August 20, 2015. Both offers exclude prescription purchases, products with codeine, insulin, non-pointable items, tobacco products, prestige cosmetics, prestige fragrances, stamps, passport photos, lottery tickets, event tickets, transit tickets and passes, electronic gift cards, and prepaid phone cards.
This week’s flyer deals end July 30, 2015. Flyer offers may vary based on your location.
To me no summer is complete without a trip to the Zoo. If you have been waiting for a good deal on tickets to the Toronto Zoo, here is an offer to save you a few dollars on admission that you may want to take advantage of.
You can currently purchase your tickets online, using the promo code DISCOVERMORE, and receive 15% off the price of admission. Children age two and under are free, but with the code, admission for children aged 3-12 drops from $18 to $15.30, general admission becomes $23.80 from $28, and admission for seniors goes from $23 to $19.55. This may not be a huge discount per person, but if you are taking the whole family it is a substantial savings overall.
When you purchase your tickets online, you will also receive a 10% discount coupon for use at one of the on site retail outlets at the zoo. Just as reminder as well that parking costs $12, and you may purchase that in advance along with your tickets. The tickets will expire on August the 31st, 2015, and are subject to a service fee of $1.50.
Rumours are flying around about the lastest move from Shoppers Drug Mart as Galen Weston modernizes the brand. In the next few weeks, we could be seeing online shopping from Shoppers Drug Mart’s Beauty Boutique.
From the information I have found (none of it is official) they will start selling prestige brands online at BeautyBoutique.ca as early as August 1st, but it could be a few weeks away – and yes, you will earn Optimum points on your purchases!
Brands included on their current BeautyBoutique.ca site include Benefit, Burberry, Estee Lauder, Givenchy, Lancome, Lise Watier, Marc Jacobs, Smashbox, Urban Decay and so many more. Having smaller stores near me with limited selection of high end cosmetics, I am delighted to see this (although my Sephora points may suffer).
Similar to Murale, but will include some of the brands sold at Shoppers Drug Mart not sold at Murale (like Urban Decay) while not having some of the higher end lines sold at Murale.
I will try to get some official information for you, but Shoppers Drug Mart are typically tight lipped on this sort of information. Are you excited to see them trying more online shopping? Hopefully more product lines will follow if this rumour turns out to be true.
Here is an important recall on an item that has been deemed a safety hazard and may pose a risk to your child should you own one. UPPAbaby, a manufacturer of baby strollers and seats sold in Canada and the US, has recalled a total of 79,000 strollers in both countries, as some of the pieces on certain items may be a choking hazard.
In Canada specifically 8000 strollers and seats have been recalled. The products included in the recall are the 2015 Cruz and Vista strollers and RumbleSeats. There have been 22 separate reports of children biting off the bumper bar in the front of the seat, although no injuries have been reported as a result of these occurrences.
The Cruz and Vista stroller models can be identified through their grey or black frames, black fabric seats, coloured fabric canopies and a black basket under the seat. The RumbleSeat is a separate product that gets attached to the stroller’s frame. To get a free cover for the bar to prevent the choking hazard, you can contact UPPAbaby. Along with the cover you will receive a warning label that you can affix. In the meantime, the bumper bar should be removed.
Loblaws Canada recently announced in its second quarter earnings release that it plans to shut down 52 unprofitable stores over the next year.
These closures will affect all brands and banners under the Loblaws company including gas bars, Joe Fresh standalone stores and other grocery chains such as Superstore, Provigo, Zehrs, and No Frills. Loblaws also recently acquired pharmacy chain Shoppers Drugmart, which was the reason for an earlier quarter’s loss. As of now, Loblaws owns more than 2300 stores across the country.
Loblaws said the closures will cut its annual sales by roughly $300 million a year, but will result in a $35 million to $40 million improvement in its operating income. The closures are expected to cost the company about $120 million. Of this amount, a charge of $45 million was taken in the second quarter which ended June 20, including $30 million for severance and lease termination costs.
On a conference call, Galen Weston, Loblaw chairman and president, said it was a “difficult decision,” though he said Loblaws would still open new stores in better locations this year, leading to a net addition to the company’s store network.
Loblaws has only said the 52 stores closing are unprofitable, but have not divulged which locations will be closed or how many employees will be affected.
If you’ve been thinking about taking a trip to Canada’s Wonderland this summer, then you’ll love this latest deal that offers you savings on admission and meals! Buy tickets online at the Canada’s Wonderland official website and checkout using the code SUMMER2015, and you could get some great savings!
The savings aren’t significant, but if you’re paying for multiple people, the savings could add up. When I entered the code, I got the following savings:
$42.99 for Regular Single Day Admission (reg $47.99)
$37.99 each ($75.98 for both) 2 Pack Single Day Admission (Reg $47.99 each)
$56.98 Meal + Admission
$51.98 each 2 pack Meal + Admission
$33.99 Jr/Sr Single Day Admission (with free entry to Dinosaurs Alive!)
$47.98 Jr/ Sr Single Day Admission + Meal
$47.99 for 2 Day Admission (reg $57.99)
$37.99 each 4 Pack Single Day Admission
$51.98 each for 4 Pack Admission + Meal
The savings are a bit better when you buy multiple tickets at once and the meal tickets include a Marketplace Buffet Combo. Please note however, that in addition to taxes, Canada’s Wonderland charges a $5.99 processing fee when you buy the tickets online. This deal is on for a limited time only. Enter the code SUMMER2015 when checking out.
The Canadian dollar dropped to levels not seen since 2004 the past Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the loonie shed nearly 0.53 cents to close at 76.70 cents against the U.S. dollar, which is the lower than the 76.85 cents the loonie closed at on March 9, 2009. The last time the dollar has dropped this low was in September 2004 when it hit the 75 cent mark.
The falling loonie has been attributed to the decline in oil prices over the last year. Corresponding with the loonie, the price of a barrel of oil dropped to $50 US Wednesday, continuing its fall from a high of over $100 a barrel in summer 2014.
The decision by the Bank of Canada last week to cut its key interest rate has also hastened this decline. “The Bank of Canada rate cut dealt a severe blow to the Canadian dollar and its outlook,” Rahim Madhavji, analyst at Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange, said.
Currently, the central bank is forecasting oil to average $60 a barrel for the rest of the year, but we are currently $10 below that, so experts are expecting the loonie to fall even more.
When the Canadian dollar last dropped, the US economy was in a recession as well, but this time around the dollar is dropping while the US economy is doing fairly well.
The Canadian Dollar has fallen 17.4 per cent since this time last year.
If you’re looking for some new games to play, or some deals on add-ons for your current games, you’ll want to check out the latest weekly deals from the PlayStation Store Canada! This week, you can score a couple of freebies for games you currently own, such as DC Universe online for PS3 and PS4. Head online and you could download a freeDC Universe Online Electricity Power Set if you’re an online Plus Member. DC Universe Online is a free to play online game across PS3, PS4 and PC that joins thousands of players in the DC Universe. You can create your own hero or villian and fight alongside and against legendary characters such as Batman, Superman, The Joker and Lex Luthor. This game is free to play online, but this free download is for members paying for the online plus membership or for any new account installing the game.
If you’re a fan of the popular game, TheLast of Us for PS3, you’ll want to pick up these free map downloads! Players can expand their gameplay with a free The Last Of Us Abandoned Territories Map Pack download, or a free The Last Of Us – Double Map Pack Bundle download. The Abandoned Territories Map Pack features all-new maps on which you can earn valuable supplies to sustain your clan in The Last of Us multiplayer. The Double Map Pack has two multiplayer map packs in one. It includes eight maps in total: Suburbs, Bus Depot, Hometown, and Bookstore from the Abandoned Territories Map Pack and Wharf, Capitol, Coal Mine, and Water Tower from the Reclaimed Territories Map Pack.
Other deals available at the PlayStation Store include:
PS3
Bastion $3.45
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Gold Edition $39.59
Call of Duty: Ghosts Digital Hardened Edition $44.00
Call of Duty: Ghosts Gold Edition $19.80
Q*bert: Rebooted/Pixels Game and Theme Bundle $8.99
The Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel Unlimited $44.99
Transistor $5.00
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood $12.99
PS4
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Gold Edition $39.59
Call of Duty: Black Ops Ultimate Edition $44.41
Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Season Pass $44.00
Call of Duty: Ghosts Gold Edition $19.80
Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches $6.99
Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall $6.99
DOOM Classic Complete $8.99
Fallout 3: Broken Steel $3.49
These deals are available for a limited time only. You must log into your PlayStation Store or PSN account to get these downloads.
It’s been a rough year for Canadian retailers as many well known store chains have already been forced to close their doors. Now the struggle to stay in business has hit two more fixtures in the Canadian marketplace, Danier Leather and Le Chateau. Both fashion brands are struggling in recent years as faster and cheaper fashion brands surpass them and online retailers continue to take a large chunk of the market share.
Recently, Danier Leather, with 86 Canadian store locations, has hired Consensus Advisory Services, a boutique investment banking and financial advisory firm, to help it explore strategic alternatives after posting yet another steep decline in sales in the last quarter.
Chief executive officer Jeffrey Wortsman has said, “Danier is working on its business and operational strategy with a view to improving its results.” He also adds that, “As publicly disclosed, Danier regularly monitors its stores and under-performing stores may be closed or relocated as leases expire or otherwise as well as look for opportunities for new stores. One of Danier’s strategies is to optimize its real estate.”
Le Chateau on the other hand has repeatedly turned to its founder, director and majority shareholder Herschel Segal’s firm for loans, most recently in June, when it secured $15-million. Le Chateau has been using this money to renovate its stores and bring them in line with their new elevated merchandise offering. However, as of August 2015, Le Chateau will have renovated only 20 of its 219 Canadian stores since it began this process in 2011.
“Note that that is less than 10 per cent of Le Château’s total locations …This fact translates to a disconnect between Le Château’s more upscale/expensive merchandise and the environment of its stores. Not a good situation to be in for a retailer,” according to retail expert Randy Harris of Trendex North America. So far Le Chateau has been forced to close 15 stores in Canada in the past 3 years. As of now there are 219 stores remaining in Canada and 1 in the US.
Stores such as H&M and Zara are the main competition for Le Chateau. Le Chateau can update and carry up to the minute fashion, but chains such as H&M and Zara can restock and get these fashions in store more quickly due to their more robust supply chains. Danier is up against specialty stores such as Rudsak and general retailers such as Hudson’s Bay and Winners, which also sell leather goods. And both stores are losing in the online market when compared to massive online shops such as Amazon, which is set to surpass Macy’s as the largest online apparel retailer in the US by 2017.
So far Danier, in addition to hiring a consulting firm, has expanded their core leather business to include more down, wool, shearling and cashmere alternatives, as well as trying to offer better pricing so that they can compete with other luxury retailers while maintain the same high quality they are known for.
Le Chateau has not released public statements about their situation, so there is no word on how they plan to improve their situation.
If you’re not already familiar with SampleSource Canada, it’s a great site where you can try out free samples of all the hottest products from your favourite brands like Ziploc, Chapstick, John Frieda and more. Their current sample packs are sold out, but the latest product reviews from consumers are in, so you can expect another sample pack to be released with items from brands like:
Robax
Ziploc
ChapStick
Breath Right
John Frieda Frizz Ease
Beneful
Brookside
Minute Rice
Catelli
Arm & Hammer
Hawaiian Tropic
Softsoap
Emergen-C
Truvia
Burt’s Bees
The way you get your free samples from SampleSource varies. Sometimes you’ll get coupons, or trial sample sizes, and in some cases even full sized items. If you sign up for SampleSource, you can get updates through email, or you can follow their Twitter page for updates about upcoming samples. New samples will be coming soon, and they often sell out quickly, so if you haven’t already signed up, you may want to sign up now to claim your samples as soon as they’re announced!
A few months ago,Loblaws Canadalaunched a new click & collect service that aims to save busy people time on their grocery shopping. The click & collect service allows you to do all your grocery shopping online and just pick it up in store! If you don’t have time to browse through all the aisles and aisles of goods, simply head online, choose what you need and let the Loblaws staff take care of all the hard work for you. All you have to do is schedule a pick up time and head in store to collect your items. The Loblaws site is very easy to shop on and they are offering over 20,000 items to choose from online.
Right now participating Loblaws stores are limited to these locations:
Toronto
Leslie & Lakeshore
Queen’s Quay
Redway
Ottawa
Vanier Market
Barrhaven
Kanata
Richmond Hill
High Tech
Markham
McCowan Market
Etobicoke
Burnhamthorope
Kingston
Cataraqui Market
More locations are slowly being added, so you can sign up for a newsletter online to be notified if there’s a new Click & Collect location available in your area. This service is great for busy families with small children, seniors, the disabled, or just about any busy person. Note that pickup usually costs an additional $3-$5 and there is a minimum order of $30 before taxes to qualify for this service. You can still collect PC Plus points on your purchase. The site will ask for your credit card when you check out online, but you can use a different method of payment when picking up your items in store.
It’s Monday, and that means that once again Safeway Canada has a great deal that has your dinner covered! Head over to Safeway now and you could purchase perogies, sour cream, and Haagen-Dazs for just $5.99! Today’s deal gets you:
Cheemo Perogies Assorted Varieties 907g
Lucerne Sour Cream 500mL
Haagen Dazs Ice Cream of Gelato Assorted Varieties 500mL
Perogies are a great comfort food. I love cooking them up and topping them with sour cream, caramelized onions, bacon and cheese. It’s not the healthiest, but it’s so good! And you can finish it off with some great Haagen Dazs ice cream, perfect for hot summer days.
This offer is valid Monday July 20, 2015 only. This offer is valid while supplies last. There’s a limit of one per customer.
Are you with Virgin Mobile Canada? Are you a fan of Starbucks Coffee? Here’s an awesome deal for you!
Virgin Mobile Canada has teamed up with Starbucks Canada, and is offering members a sweet promo code that will get you a $15 Starbucks card for only $10! All you have to do is fill out your information on the Virgin Mobile website and Virgin Mobile Canada will send you a text with the code and instructions. It’s simple, easy and a great benefit that members will have. If you don’t enter your promo code, you’re only offered a $10 Starbucks gift card… it’s still awesome but why lose the extra $5?
It is exclusively for Virgin Mobile Canada members only. So as a Fido customer, I’m bummed out. Who doesn’t love Starbucks? Have pity on us non-members, and get that gift card for our sake!
Are you with Virgin Mobile Canada? Are you a fan of Starbucks Coffee? Here’s an awesome deal for you!
