WeCook meals service expands to Winnipeg

The company sells ready-to-eat meals, from small to family portions.

Directors Desk enters child care HR spotlight

A Manitoba company has released what is believed to be the first sector-specific human resources software for early learning centres and child care operations in Canada.

Ringing up ‘fast rescue system’ Road Ally

A mechanic fixed James Penner’s automobile last month in Ontario, but a Manitoba-made app connected him to the service.

When Penner’s vehicle needed a jump start after work, the Brampton, Ont., resident called his insurance provider’s roadside service program. They told him it would take more than two hours for help to arrive. It was late, so while he waited, Penner went online to search for alternatives.

That’s when he found Road Ally, a roadside assistance app that connects users to nearby mechanics.

Penner downloaded the app, requested help and received a quote for the job. A mechanic called to confirm an estimated time of arrival, Penner paid for the job via the app and the mechanic arrived shortly thereafter.

Alberta’s Smith says it may be too late to put a question about coal to Oct. vote

CALGARY - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is suggesting it's too late to put an anti-coal mining petition question to a provincewide referendum this fall.

Earlier this month, Alberta musician Corb Lund delivered what he said were more than 200,000 signatures in support of his petition.

If the required 178,000 signatures are verified, Smith's government would be forced to consider passing a law banning new coal mining or sending it to a provincewide referendum.

The United Conservative government is already putting 10 questions on the ballot Oct. 19.

CRTC issues warning to Rogers over three fees after ban takes effect

Rogers Communications Inc. is the latest of Canada's Big Three telecommunications providers to receive a rebuke from the CRTC over new fees introduced despite a policy meant to prohibit them.

In a letter issued Tuesday, the commission said it was aware that Rogers began charging customers a new $40 device setup fee, a $25 shipping charge, and an unspecified SIM card fee as of that day.

Previously, the CRTC sent repeated letters to Bell Canada and Telus Corp. warning that their own recently introduced fees could violate a new policy banning telecoms from charging customers when they activate, change or cancel plans.

The rules, which took effect last Friday, include exemptions for fees related to optional services or products that consumers agree to purchase, such as add-on equipment that is not required to deliver the service.

N.B. regulator revokes solar company’s licence after claims of unfulfilled orders

FREDERICTON - A New Brunswick regulatory commission has banned a solar energy company from selling its products and services in the province.

The Financial and Consumer Services Commission says it received multiple complaints about the company regarding unfulfilled orders worth tens of thousands of dollars.

A May 25 report from the consumer affairs director says Sun Kissed Energy Inc. pressured clients into financing deals then cut off communication and failed to complete services that were paid for.

The report also details how the Nova Scotia-based firm allegedly ignored repeated attempts by the commission to contact the company and failed to provide requested financial details.

Higher oil prices likely to stick even with eventual reopening of Hormuz: experts

CALGARY - The U.S. and Iran may be close to finalizing a deal that would end almost four months of fighting and allow Persian Gulf crude to once again flow freely to global markets, but experts say high global oil prices are likely to stick around. 

Ninepoint Partners released its mid-year outlook on Wednesday that predicts a US$80 floor price for West Texas Intermediate crude even with a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's crude supply normally transits, has been effectively cut off since the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on Iran in late February.

"Even when an agreement is reached and the strait reopens, it will take weeks and months for normalized tanker traffic to resume," said senior portfolio manager Eric Nuttall. 

Global inventories will need to be restocked, creating sustained demand, he added. The investment firm estimates that the world has lost more than one billion barrels of oil since the conflict began. 

A city’s push for facial recognition on public buses ignites debate over security and privacy

Officials in Kansas City, Missouri, are preparing to equip some public buses with facial recognition cameras capable of detecting whether a passenger appears on a list of banned riders or missing persons.

Supporters and opponents alike view the effort as a major litmus test for tapping the AI-powered software on a U.S. public transportation system, positioning Kansas City as the latest epicenter in a fierce debate over whether the safety benefits of artificial intelligence are worth the privacy costs.

“The idea of running face recognition on a camera that is pointed on live spaces in public is a line that until recently has never really been crossed in the last 25 years,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst for the Project on Speech, Privacy and Technology at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The state of Missouri declined to help fund the project as expected due to concerns with the facial recognition component. Still, the city is pushing ahead with local and federal money, said Tyler Means, chief mobility and strategy officer at the Kansas City Transportation Authority.