Tausi Insider

Two provincial privacy watchdogs say they have received data breach reports from Sobeys, which has been dealing with “IT system” issues for much of the past week affecting customers seeking prescriptions at some pharmacies it operates. Quebec’s access to information commission confirmed Thursday it received a declaration of a “confidentiality incident” from the grocer. It said confidentiality incidents occur when there is unauthorized access, use or loss of personal information or or any other breach of the protection of this information. Alberta’s privacy commission also confirmed that it has been notified by the company about the incident and is aware that it is being investigated. At the federal level, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada says it is in communication with the company to obtain more information and determine next steps. On Monday the parent company of Sobeys, Empire Company Ltd. EMP-A-T, released a statement on the issue, saying some pharmacies were havi...

Collapsed cryptocurrency trading firm FTX confirmed there was “unauthorized access” to its accounts, hours after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday. The embattled company’s new CEO John Ray III said Saturday that FTX is switching off the ability to trade or withdraw funds and taking steps to secure customers’ assets, according to a tweet by FTX’s general counsel Ryne Miller. FTX is also co-ordinating with law enforcement and regulators, the company said. Exactly how much money is involved is unclear, but analytics firm Elliptic estimated Saturday that $477 million was missing from the exchange. Another $186 million was moved out of FTX’s accounts, but that may have been FTX moving assets to storage, said Elliptic’s co-founder and chief scientist Tom Robinson. A debate formed on social media about whether the exchange was hacked or a company insider had stolen funds, a possibility that cryptocurrency analysts couldn’t rule out. Until recently, FTX was one of...

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, on Oct. 19. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press Employees in federally regulated private-sector workplaces are now eligible for 10 days of paid sick leave. As of Dec. 31, workers who have been continuously employed for at least 30 days will have access to three paid sick days. Workers will then get a fourth sick day as of Feb. 1, and will accumulate one additional day at the start of every month up to a maximum of 10 days per year. On the campaign trail in 2021, the Liberals pledged to introduce 10 days of paid sick leave for federally regulated workers. In a news release, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan says the paid leave means “more workers won’t have to choose between getting well and getting paid.” The Canadian Labour Congress applauded the new policy in a statement, urging provinces that do not offer paid sick leave to follow suit. https://www.tausiinsider.com/new-paid-sick-leave-rules-coming-into-effect-f...

A delivery person for DoorDash, on Nov. 13, 2020. CARLO ALLEGRI/Reuters DoorDash DASH-N is changing the way it charges commission to Canadian restaurants with a new, tiered model. The San Francisco-based food delivery service announced the switch Tuesday, saying it will offer restaurants more “flexibility” and help them take advantage of digital growth opportunities. “Part of the thinking … was to give them that transparency of the available value proposition that we have to offer,” said Shilpa Arora, DoorDash Canada’s general manager. The model resembles one launched in the U.S. last year and has three tiers starting with the basic plan, which charges a 20 per cent commission on deliveries and 10 per cent on orders picked up by diners and comes with the smallest delivery radius. Beyond that, restaurants can choose plans with additional features. One step above the basic plan is DoorDash Plus, which involves a 25 per cent commission on deliveries and eight per cent on pickups. This p...

Experts say it is becoming increasingly clear that Canada will face a recession, but it remains yet to be seen how long it could last or how deep its impacts will be. Nam Y. Huh/The Associated Press Steven Tobin is the chief executive officer of LabourX and a C.D. Howe Institute research fellow. Parisa Mahboubi is a senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute. While many have challenged the pace of the Bank of Canada’s interest-rate hikes, their likelihood of success and the extent to which further increases are merited , it has already become clear that, regardless, a recession is imminent. And while it remains to be seen how deep and how long that recession will be, there is no question it will hurt some more than others. Will governments be there to pick up the pieces and manage the consequences of higher interest rates? If so, how, and in what ways can they help, given their rather precarious fiscal position, with Ottawa carrying $1.1-trillion in debt? Among the many things ...

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks at a news conference in Ottawa, on Nov. 3. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has lots of reasons to be losing sleep. Soaring living costs have Canadians lined up at food banks. The federal Liberals are anticipating a possible recession. And Freeland is personally connected with people living all across war-torn Ukraine. But in April, the finance minister said there was another looming problem on her mind. “If you were to ask what keeps me up at night, I’d say, ‘China’s zero-COVID approach and the very severe lockouts we’re seeing right now,’” Freeland said at an event held by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. If Beijing’s tough COVID-19 rules and factory shutdowns had her the most concerned, it was because these, more than anything else, were sure to wreak havoc on the supply chains Canada relies on to keep its economy running. In July, Canada dodged what was potentially an even bigger blow when the U.S. broade...

Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques gives a demonstration on Canadarm 2 simulator to Transport Minister Omar Alghabra as Annie Koutrakis, parliamentary secretary to the minister of transport, looks on, on Jan. 20, prior to an announcement on commercial space launches in Longueuil, Que. CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/Reuters The federal government has announced it is ready to approve commercial space launches on Canadian soil on an interim basis as it moves to put regulations in place to support a nascent domestic launch industry. The vote of confidence from Ottawa comes amid a growing global demand for access to space. Telecommunications providers around the world are racing to offer universal access to mobile broadband internet access via satellite while space-based monitoring for greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural productivity and national security, among other uses, is only expected to grow. “We are seeing a great deal of private sector leadership supporting space-related projects and o...

A new report says that pledges made by companies to support diversity are at risk as the corporate sector prepares for a possible recession. The study by consulting company AgentsC and charitable organization Imagine Canada, supported by the RBC Foundation, says though Canadian corporations have committed billions of dollars to justice, access, inclusion, diversity and equity, these commitments haven’t resulted in enough action and accountability. The research involved a survey of Canada’s largest companies and included interviews with Black, Indigenous, South Asian, South Asian-Muslim, and LGBTQ professionals. AgentsC CEO Mide Akerewusi says the pace of change doesn’t match the intentions broadcast by corporations’ financial commitments. The study found that a lack of representation is holding back equity at corporations, noting that Black and Indigenous professionals are less likely than their white counterparts to have influence or decision-making responsibility. The study also fo...

Meta Platforms Inc. META-Q said on Wednesday it will restore former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks, following a two-year suspension after the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. The social media company said in a blog post it has “put new guardrails in place to deter repeat offences.” Trump has said he will make another run for the White House in 2024, and Facebook and Instagram are key vehicles for political outreach and fundraising. In November he regained access to Twitter, his once-favored online megaphone, and a few weeks after he said he was in talks with Meta about returning. “In the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” wrote Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, in the blog post. The decision to ban Trump was a polarizing one for Meta, the world’s biggest social media c...