NOW Magazine
Canadians got richer but went deeper into mortgage debt in 2020: economists Canadians are poised to quickly deploy spending as the economy gradually reopens in 2021,” one bank economist writes By Carlito Pablo
Samuel Engelking
Mortgage debt in Canada rose by $110 billion in 2020 over the previous year, according RBC Economics.
The previous year has been a challenging time for many because of COVID-19.
But at the end of the day, Canadian households became richer in 2020, according to economists with two of the biggest banks in the country.
RBC and TD economists say Canadians emerged with more wealth from the pandemic year. However, the other side of the coin shows that mortgage debt also increased in 2020.
Petition may finally force Trudeau to repeal Canada’s sex work law
Petition may finally force Trudeau to repeal Canada’s sex work law
A petition calling on Ottawa to decriminalize sex work has gathered 5,100 signatures so far By Carlito Pablo
Feb 18, 2021
Sex workers don’t feel any safer under the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act passed by a previous Conservative government.
As an opposition MP, Justin Trudeau in 2014 voted against a new law on prostitution in Canada.
But when he became prime minister in 2015, the federal Liberal leader didn’t do anything about the legislation.
This even as sex workers say that the law passed by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper doesn’t make them any safer.
Seeing a lot of fake news?
A new study observes that the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an “overabundance of information.”
It’s called an “infodemic.”
As researchers with Statistics Canada noted, this makes it “very difficult for people to find facts and reliable sources.”
And that is dangerous.
“Misinformation in the context of COVID-19 can endanger the population’s health, especially if the news that spreads is about false prevention measures or treatments, or if it undermines the population’s trust in health services and public or political institutions,” according to Karine Garneau and Clémence Zossou.
Garneau and Zossou wrote the paper Misinformation During The COVID-19 Pandemic, which was released by Statistics Canada on February 2.