In the news today: Canada Post workers go on strike Friday

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Canada Post workers go on strike Friday

Canada Post workers are on strike after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer.

Canadian Union of Postal Workers says approximately 55-thousand workers are striking, claiming little progress has been made in the bargaining process.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers issued a 72-hour strike notice earlier in the week, saying it’s been asking for fair wages, safer working conditions and other improvements over nearly a year of bargaining.

The Crown corporation released a statement early Friday morning confirming that customers will experience delays as a result of the strike.

The statement says mail and parcels will not be delivered for the duration of the strike, and some post offices will be closed.

Canada Post says shutting down facilities will affect its national network, with processing and delivery of mail possibly needing time to return to normal once the strike is over.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Trudeau in Peru as APEC meeting gets underway

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Peru, kicking off five days of meetings with leaders from around the globe, as the world braces for the looming return of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

Trudeau is in Lima for a summit held by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group, which aims to resolve trade barriers and grow economies across the Pacific Rim.

But Trump has threatened to upend global trade and pull the U.S. out of some of the multilateral bodies that Canada champions.

Asia Pacific Foundation vice-president Vina Nadjibulla says the APEC summit is crucial for Canada as it tries to navigating a shifting world.

She says countries might form united policies to counteract some of the impact from some of Trump’s promised tariffs and protectionist measures.

Trudeau will be at the summit until Sunday, when he will fly to Brazil for the G-20 summit, and both summits will feature the leaders of the U.S., China and India.

Fans shell out to see Taylor Swift in Toronto

American sisters Lina and My Jae weren’t worried about the thousands of dollars they dropped to see Taylor Swift in Toronto.

The duo from Upstate New York spent about $3,000 apiece all told, from their $1,800 floor tickets to the $350 bodysuit Lina Jae bought and the $55 entry fee to Taylgate, the unofficial Swift party next door to the concert.

The sisters are among the many fans willing to spend big bucks in hopes of seeing Swift, the flip side of the $152 million in direct spending Destination Toronto has estimated will result from Swift’s swing through the city.

Destination Toronto, a tourism organization, said the $152 million in direct spending it was projecting doesn’t include concert tickets or airfare, because that money doesn’t stay in the local economy.

CEO Andrew Weir said the organization anticipates the spending will grow into a $282-million economic impact as the money continues to circulate.

Manitobans pumped over Bombers, high-flying Jets

Oh, to be a Manitoba sports fan these days, with the Blue Bombers back yet again in the CFL Grey Cup — and now the NHL’s high-flying Jets are stomping all comers and breaking records.

Just ask Chuck Duboff, who has been posting pictures of both teams’ victories on social media this week.

“Everybody’s just smiling more. It’s just been electric in the city,” Duboff, a high school teacher, said in an interview.

“It’s beyond anything any of us could have ever imagined.”

The Blue Bombers play the Toronto Argonauts in Sunday’s CFL championship. It’s the fifth consecutive year the Bombers are in the big game.

The Jets, meanwhile, a traditional heartbreaking team that has never made it to the NHL’s Stanley Cup final, are turning heads this year coming out of the gate on fire, becoming the fastest team in league history to reach 15 wins.

Stolen Churchill portrait returns home today

A stolen portrait of Winston Churchill that was swapped with a dodgy forgery during the pandemic returns to its rightful place today, after two Ottawa police detectives travelled to Rome to retrieve it.

The original artwork will be returned to its spot on the reading-room wall in the posh Fairmont Château Laurier hotel at a homecoming ceremony this morning.

The most famous depiction of Churchill, known as “The Roaring Lion,” appears on the U.K.’s five-pound note and shows a glowering wartime prime minister staring into the camera.

Ottawa police launched an investigation after the heist was reported in 2022, and eventually tracked down the painting overseas in Genoa, Italy.

Police charged a man from the town of Powassan, Ont., just outside North Bay, with forgery, theft and trafficking and his case is before the courts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024

The Canadian Press