 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Ontario claims tire producers are breaking provincial recycling laws | | |  | Ontario's Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority has slapped compliance orders on all five organizations that collect and manage used tires on behalf of tire manufacturers and automakers. The orders allege the tire industry is not providing enough collection sites. (Guillaume Croteau-Langevin/CBC) | | | Tire producers are in trouble with the Ontario agency that regulates recycling in the province, and could soon face fines of $200,000 or more.
All five of the organizations that collect and recycle used tires in Ontario are failing to comply with provincial legislation, according to the agency, called the Resource Productivity & Recovery Authority (RPRA).
The agency has slapped compliance orders on the five organizations, which work for and are funded by tire manufacturers and automakers. The orders allege that throughout the province, the industry is not providing enough sites that collect used tires.
The orders are significant because they include threats of financial penalties that could hit any or all the companies that bring tires into Ontario. That includes the big-name tire manufacturers, such as Goodyear, BFGoodrich, Michelin and Pirelli, as well as the major automakers, such as GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda.
Tires are one of the single biggest sources of waste that the province wants to keep out of landfills. Producers collected 156,000 tonnes of used tires in 2021, the most recent year for which figures are available. That's the equivalent of 14.7 million passenger vehicle tires.
The RPRA says in a statement that it informed tire producers a year ago about "shortfalls" in their collection system. The agency says its surveys found 35 per cent of sites that are supposed to collect used tires don't actually do so.
Among the sites that do accept used tires, the agency says half of them charge consumers a fee to collect them and half refuse to accept tires on rims, both of which go against provincial regulations.
The orders give the producers two months to prove through an external audit that their collection system complies with the rules. If they fail to do so, the orders say the companies could face penalties of up to $200,000 plus what's called "economic benefit," the money they saved by not complying. | | | | | Blue Jays top Tigers to take home opener in newly renovated Rogers Centre | | |  | (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press) | | | | Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer (4) celebrates his go-ahead solo home run with teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. Read more here and check out more photos from the Jays' home opener. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | A lack of trust in police, and fear of being mistreated and disbelieved are some of the reasons vulnerable women did not report being sexually exploited by the gunman who went on to kill 22 Nova Scotians in April 2020, according to the commission examining the mass shooting. The recently released final report of the Mass Casualty Commission provides a disturbing insight into the gunman's exploitation of Indigenous and African Nova Scotian women for years. Some victims of his violence and intimidation were denture patients at his clinics in Dartmouth and Halifax. The commission revealed the survivors were reluctant to report what happened to them because of "a long history of women, particularly women from historically disadvantaged groups, not being believed or being revictimized by institutions, including the police and the courts." Read the full story here.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and three western premiers are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to disassociate his government from comments made by Justice Minister David Lametti — who promised last week to "look at" a decades-old law that gives control over natural resources to the four western provinces. "The federal government cannot unilaterally change the Constitution," the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba said in a joint statement on Tuesday. "It should not even be considering stripping resource rights away from the three Prairie provinces." They said the prime minister needs to immediately retract these "dangerous and divisive comments by his justice minister." Poilievre accused Lametti of threatening to overturn the Constitution and take federal control over provincial resources. Read more on this story here.
In January, it took Céline Cummings four days to get to Montreal instead of what should have been an easy two-hour direct flight. A resident of Cap-aux-Meules on Quebec's Magdalen Islands, Cummings's flight was delayed for days, ruining the week-long vacation she had booked in Montreal and costing her an extra $2,000. "This is one of many examples of what's been going on for too long now. We don't know when we're going to leave. We don't know when we're going to come back. There are people who are missing medical appointments, surgery.… We're kind of stuck," said Cummings. She is one of the residents of the Magdalen Islands who helped launch a petition on the National Assembly's website last week, calling on the Quebec government to help find a solution and provide better, more reliable airline service to the region. Read the full story here.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is reimagining what a justice system could look like for First Nations people in the province, with plans to create pilot courts in two communities with processes based on First Nations' legal traditions. As Indigenous people continue to make up a disproportionate number of people in custody and be jailed younger, denied bail more frequently and granted parole less often, the need for such a system in Manitoba is urgent, said Grand Chief Cathy Merrick. "The statistics are well known to both Canada and Manitoba, yet they continue to tinker with the current justice system with little to no First Nation involvement," Merrick said. "And the only measurable success they have to show for it [is] higher incarceration rates for First Nation people." The plan is to develop one First Nation-led court in a northern Manitoba community and another in the south, she said. Read more about the plan here.
In the 1970s, most Swedish homes were heated with oil boilers. Today, electric-powered heat pumps dominate, and have drastically cut emissions from single-family homes. How did that happen? And are there lessons for Canada’s transition away from fossil fuel heating? Read the story here.
Now here's some good news to start your Wednesday: Nostalgia and fitness are on the agenda for these seniors in London, Ont., who lace up their roller skates each week for some four-wheeled fun. About 30 of them take to the North London Optimist Community Centre's roller rink each Wednesday to participate in the activity, organized by the Huff N' Puff Seniors Fitness Association. For some, it's a chance to dust off the roller skates from their youth, while others took up the activity later in life. "It keeps you young, keeps you active — and I love the music," said Pauline Matthews, who took a 30-year break from roller skating before joining the Huff N' Puff group a few years ago. Read more about the group here. | | | OPINION | There's no getting around — Alberta's lack of accessibility law is my ballot box issue | | | Chris Ryan has been unable to work as a lawyer because accessible transit made it impossible to get to work on time. His opinion piece is part of a series of personal essays the CBC is running ahead of the Alberta election. Read Ryan's column here. | | | | |  | Why movies about products are everywhere | What Barbie, Air and The Super Mario Bros. Movie might mean for the future of the blockbuster.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: April 12 | | | 1861: The U.S. Civil War begins when Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter in the harbour of Charleston, S.C.
1960: Maurice "Rocket" Richard scores the last goal of his 18-year NHL career. It helped Montreal defeat Toronto 5-2 in Game Three of the Stanley Cup final. The Canadiens swept the series in four games to win their record fifth consecutive Stanley Cup.
1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to go into space. He orbited Earth once before Vostok I re-entered the atmosphere 89 minutes later.
1980: In St. John’s, Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope in aid of cancer research. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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