CBOT - Monday, May 27, 2024 - 06:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #4

>>> Ontario's privacy commissioner will publish a special report about the use of non-government e-mails and deleted messages related to the greenbelt. In late 2022, the doug ford government removed land from the protected greenbelt to build 50,000 homes. Ford reversed course on that plan after months of outcry and reports from the auditor general and the integrity commissioner that found the process favoured certain developers. N.D.P. leader marit stiles asked the ethics commissioner to investigate the premiere and the use of personal phones and e-mails on that controversial file. She said her office is working on 19 access to information appeals that are similar to the concerns stiles raised. >>> If you think there are more mosquitos around this year, you're probably not wrong. Experts say the spring weather created the perfect conditions for the insects to breed. We have plenty of rain leaving behind still water. One expert says the fact that temperatures certainly warmed up certainly hasn't helped. >> We had really nice hot weather which made them develop faster. Their growth is tied to temperatures. In warm weather they grow faster and cooler weather slowly. We didn't get a spring frost. >> David: if the summer is hot and dry, the situation could get better, but that could also lead to drought. That's your cbc news. Now here is doug with a look at traffic. >> Doug: thank you, david. A little overcast out there this morning. Not as bright and sunny as yesterday. Keeping an eye on the skies. Get more than your running lights on. Quiet to start. Eastbound 417 from bayshore into downtown no problems at all. Same thing with the westbound 417 and the westbound 174 coming in from or through orléans. It is showing the first signs of thickening in cumberland in the single-lane stretch of the 174. No problems in the south end. Bridges between ottawa and gatineau seem good and no backups. In gatineau the westbound 50 may show the first traffic at westbound la vérendrye. Nothing busy or if you see something I should know about, you can call me and tell me about it at 613-288-6900. I'm back with more, hallie, in about 20 minutes. >> Hallie: we also went to a yard sale over the weekend or I did. Picked up two things, a rugby ball which seems strangely large, a wales version. >> Doug: I played rugby briefly in grade 9. >> Hallie: and a dog harness and leash for our cat gary. >> Doug: gary is going out on the town. >> Hallie: he is big boned and the cat stuff doesn't fit him. If we go with him we want to bring him. We tried it on him last night. >> Doug: I tried this with a cat that I had, brent. And he escaped from it no matter what. You could buy it from wicked wandas and he would escape from it. What he used to do is he would walk -- you put the harness on him and he would start walking backwards like he was trying to go back to a time before it was on. He would walk backwards. >> Hallie: winds from the east 20 km/h. Cloudy with showers, risk of a thunderstorm, showers again this afternoon. 30 to 40 millimetres of rain expected. A high of 23° with the humidex at times high. Krystalle ramlakhan joining me with the business report. >> Krystalle: good morning, hallie. >> Hallie: we heard of allegations about anti-competitive behaviour. You heard about how the scrutiny is increasing. And now there is more political pressure on the businesses. What's going on here? >> Krystalle: yes, that's right. So a house of commons committee studying food prices is recommending the federal government consider policies to tackle "excessive net profits" in the food industry. So the committee says the government should look at the sectors of the food supply chains that are monopolies that are driving up prices for farmers and consumers. So in a new report last week, the committee revealed its research into the causes of food inflation including the high-profile testimony of grocery executives over the past several months. Now, the leaders of loblaws, metro, sobeys-owned empire, walmart and costco all faced

questions from M.P.s over the size of their profits. But grocers say they haven't unduly profited from high food inflation. Now, the committee has a range of recommendations such as lowering the barriers of entry to new companies to canada, strengthening the competition law when it comes to mergers and making the grocery code of conduct mandatory. Now, the industry-led code is intended to help level the playing field for smaller companies. It is meant to be voluntary, but in recent months pressure has grown to make it law, asot all the grocers want to sign on. Now, loblaws the largest grocer in the country has recently announced its plans to sign on as long as all the other stakeholders do as well. In december, loblaws and walmart said they were concerned the code would increase prices. Now loblaws says it thinks the code is fair and it wouldn't increase prices. Walmart is reviewing the latest draft of the code. >> Hallie: your next story is about the aftermath of the collapse of the canadian airline links air. What can you tell us? >> Krystalle: they are looking to sell everything from life jackets to oxygen masks as it's dealing with the losses it suffered. Court documents show the defunct discount carrier worked out deals with aviation companies abroad to sell plane parts and equipment such as seats and tires. Any hope of gains on the airline's nine aircraft have been dashed after the leasing companies cancelled their deals and took back the planes. The filings ask the alberta's court of king's bench to approve agreements that would see a new hampshire company get 50 wheels and brakes and a cayman's company snapping up everything from food carts to even a single garbage can. So they're really trying to sell everything here. The shut down of this calgary-based carrier comes as discount airlines are facing some ongoing financial pressures from industry as well as the covid-19 fallout on travel. In october, westjet closed swoop and it plans to wind down sunwing airlines and integrate that low-cost carrier after buying it last may. And flair airlines has seen financial turbulence over the last 18 months. As of november, it owed the federal government $67 million in unpaid taxes related to import duties on the 20 boeing jets. >> Hallie: a couple of weeks ago, krystalle, you told us about how chuck e. Cheese was planning on updating its decor. There's been a bit of a backlash. >> Krystalle: they are retiring most of the animatronic bands. The life-sized mascot robots that played music at the front of the restaurant. Now the company says it's going to keep a few more of them. The company says it's going to increase the number it's keeping to five. This comes after plans to phase out the robot performers at all but two of the 400 locations in the united states by the end of the year and the company wanted to update the chuck e. Cheese experience for a new generation of digitally inclined children. Like you were just alluding to there. During the pandemic it closed many locations and it actually drove the company to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2020. Since then, leadership has been focused on modernizing with digital screens and dance floors. A few distraught fans got hold of the chief executive on his personal phone to appeal to the survival of a few of these performers known as munches' make-believe band. >> Hallie: okay. In the markets this morning, krystalle? >> Krystalle: in europe stocks are sticking higher. Germany is up right now, the U.K. is down, france is up. In asia, markets are gaining. As industrial profits in china rose in the first quarter. So japan, shanghai and hong kong are all up. Oil is up 42 cents to $78.14 U.S. per barrel. Gold is up $10.95 to $2,344.78 U.S. per ounce. And the dollar is up .04 of a cent to 73.22 cents U.S. >> Hallie: okay. Thanks very much, krystalle. >> Krystalle: thanks, hallie. >> Hallie: that's krystalle ramlakhan with the business news. [ ] [ ] >> Hallie: well, in the past

year the president of iceland, the prime minister of france, and the president of the slovak republic all visited ottawa and when they did, wellington street and sussex drive were lined with their national flags. Where do all these flags come from? Where are they stored until they're needed, sometimes years later, and what happens when there is a diplomatic flap over flags? That's what robyn bresnahan set it to find out on this week's episode of the podcast "this is ottawa." she went on a tour with a huge flag warehouse with the head of ceremonial and protocol services at the department of public works. [ ] >> Robyn: this is so cool. >> So this is what is used to install those street flags. >> Robyn: I've just been welcomed to a warehouse not far from the science and technology museum by the head of ceremonial and protocol services for the federal government, which means she's in charge of much of what we're about to see here. >> So we've got 12,000 square feet of warehouse space where we keep all the ceremonial equipment and flags that are used for meetings, visits, summits, any meeting whatsoever, they follow the governor-general around the and the prime minister around the world. Any time you need a flag, you'll find it here. >> Robyn: this is probably a terrible comparison, but all of a sudden I feel like I'm in ikea. >> It does feel like that. The ceilings are 37 feet high. You have the barricades, the chairs and bases. The folding chairs and the risers and all the crates we use to ship it across canada and around the world. >> Robyn: my favourite detail right ahead of us is they have a saying roll out the red carpet. You've got rolls and rolls of red carpet. >> I've got probably close to 40,000 feet of red carpet. [ ] >> Robyn: does canada have a giant collection of all the flags of the world or are they ordered on an ad hoc basis when there is a foreign head of state visiting? >> I've got the flag of every national country that we have diplomatic ties with as well as all the organizational flags, most of which canada is a member or has participated in a conference at some point. We've got local flags, the pride flag, veterinary association, the fallen firefighters, franco-ontarian flag. The city of ottawa and montreal. A few universities. >> Robyn: you would have flags of very small countries such as venue with a to you and naru? >> Correct. We have fiji and british virgin islands. >> Robyn: how many flags are stored here? >> 28,000. >> Robyn: 28,000. Can we see them? >> Absolutely. >> Robyn: let's do it and take a walk. [ ] >> So this is a flag room. We keep this one separate. We don't want dust and dirt getting in here. We keep dust and rodents out. We don't want to which humidity. These first two rungs of boxes are the street flags. These are the ones deployed along the ceremonial route which is wellington street from bank to rideau, all the way down sussex to rideau hall and colonel by to the canada reception centre where they arrive. >> Robyn: it is in boxes and folded up. Is it someone's job to iron them out? >> When they're going out, they do get ironed and laid on a table. Any time we pull them out, we check them to make sure they're clean and if they're not, we wash them. >> Robyn: are these all alphabetical? >> Pretty much. You have andorra, an goalie and antigua and barbuda. We put a picture on the box of the flag. We keep them up-to-date. We're constantly doing research to make sure the flags are correct and the pantones are correct. We make sure we destroy what we have in our inventory if a flag is changed. >> Robyn: how often does it happen that a country changes their flag? >> Last year five countries changed their flag. Sometimes it's a slight change of colour or sometimes they get a new leader who wants to change it. >> Robyn: have you had any stressful incidents? Can you tell me any behind-the-scene s behind-the-scenes stories? >> During a visit the fag was installed upside down.

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