Weekly News Recap: May 2, 2025

Weekly News Recap: May 2, 2025

Mark Carney smiles on stage at his campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn (Frank Gunn/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

We will never, ever, in any way, shape, or form, be a part of the United States. America is not Canada. -- Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • VIDEO: When life gave these St. Thomas sisters a puddle, they made a viral social media splash (CBC) ST THOMAS STORY This is such a fun video to watch -- and over 10 million views! "When their mom took away their mobile phones for the day on Good Friday, sisters Lillie and Harper O'Reilly were given the old-fashioned order to go outside to play. That's when the O'Reilly sisters noticed a huge puddle across the street from their house in St. Thomas, Ont. They decided to craft a sign that read, 'Splash us,' and then stood in front of the puddle, waiting for vehicles to drive by."

  • At These Grocery Stores, No One Pays (Civil Eats) #Brilliant "Launched in the fall of 2024, Pratt Free Market opens its doors every Wednesday and Friday and serves around 200 people per day. Anyone can pick up food at the store without providing identification or meeting income requirements. The library-based free grocery store was pitched by M’balu 'Lu' Bangura when she started her role as Enoch Pratt Library’s chief of equity and fair practices. The idea stemmed from the food insecurity she saw during the COVID-19 pandemic."

  • Subtitling Your Life (New Yorker) These are amazing. I am seriously thinking about getting them. I wear hearing aids but I still miss things. #Pardon? "Hearing aids and cochlear implants have been getting better for years, but a new type of device—eyeglasses that display real-time speech transcription on their lenses—is a game-changing breakthrough."

  • VIDEO: Penn Station’s Not-So-Secret Other Life: The People’s Dance Studio (New York Times) I love dance. All kinds of dance. Dance makes me happy. This story makes me super happy. #MorePlease "Smooth floors. Public restrooms. A built-in audience: The lower level of Moynihan Hall doubles as a rehearsal space for a variety of dance groups, including K-pop, salsa and Brazilian Zouk."

  • A moose trek across Sweden pulls in millions of viewers looking for 'Slow TV' (NPR) I am watching it right now! Very soothing. "The moose are on the move again. Across Sweden, that is. The mammals have begun their annual migration in the small village of Kullberg, in the northern part of the country. And over the past few years, they've had millions of eyes on them. The Great Moose Migration is a 24-hour livestream program categorized as 'slow TV,' which is live, unedited and hours-long coverage of some routine event, usually with a theme or journey in mind."

  • iN PHOTOS: Vernon photographer turns hardship into creative connections (Infotel) VERNON STORY She has an eye for sure. "Less than a year ago Vernon resident Alexa Wyatt picked up her camera while recovering from a car accident and is turning her photography hobby into a business that gives back to her community. A massage therapist and esthetician, the accident left her with a torn shoulder preventing her from working. 'I was sitting around having a bit of a ‘poor me’ time and my boyfriend suggested I pick up my camera,' she said. 'Photography was a creative outlet and making it a business was a dream but I didn’t see it becoming a reality.' "

  • VIDEO: Suit up! Red Deer friends create epic suit of armour (CBC) RED DEER STORY #Nerds that I love. "Three friends from Red Deer have combined to make a one-of-a-kind suit of armour. The project is the work of cosplayer Alex Osborn and Gonzalo and Bernardo Franco, owners of Mount Crom Armouries. The trio got together to combine old-fashioned metal forging with modern cosplay for an epic suit of armour."

  • VIDEO: Meet Root, the turtle with a mobility aid made of Lego (CBC) HALIFAX STORY #Shellebrity "He doesn't live in a sewer, his name isn't Donatello and he doesn't ride a skateboard. But little Root the turtle does get around on his own set of wheels. The wood turtle came to live at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax last September. Unlike most turtles, Root is missing his right front foot."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. VIDEO: Pope Francis honoured at funeral before hundreds of thousands — from presidents to the poor (CBC) RIP Papa. "Royalty, presidents, prime ministers and a legion of faithful paid their last respects to Pope Francis at a funeral mass in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Saturday. Applause rang out as the pontiff's simple wooden coffin, inlaid with a large cross, was brought out of St. Peter's Basilica and into the sun-filled square by white-gloved, black-suited pallbearers. As the ceremony ended, those in attendance applauded again as the coffin was carried back into the basilica before it was transported to St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, where he was buried during a largely private ceremony."

  2. Here are the four Canadian cardinals who will help elect the next pope (MSN) CANADIAN STORY "Following Pope Francis’s death, 135 cardinals from around the world will gather at the Vatican to elect a new leader for the Catholic Church. Candidates for becoming the new pope must be male and a baptized Catholic. This election is known as the conclave, and its members, cardinal electors, are sworn to secrecy about the proceedings within the election itself. Cardinals have to be under 80 years old to vote. Of the 135 cardinal electors, four Canadians will help find the new pope. They will be joined by 12 other cardinals from North America, two from Mexico and 10 from the U.S. Canada has another cardinal, Marc Ouellet, who retired in 2023. He turned 80 last June and is no longer eligible to vote, though he could still be elected pope. The conclave traditionally starts 15 to 20 days after the death of the pope. The election will be held until one candidate has a two-thirds majority vote. This will be signalled by white smoke from a chimney visible from St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican."

  3. VIDEO: Zoos of the future may have no animals at all (CBC) EDMONTON STORY "Lucy originally came from an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka. When she was sold to the zoo in 1977, she was about two years old — and she has lived alone for much of the last two decades. The documentary Lucy: The Stolen Lives of Elephants examines what life is like for her and other elephants in captivity. With interviews from animal-welfare experts and zookeepers-turned-advocates, the film considers a future when the practice of keeping elephants in zoos will be phased out."

  4. Mark Carney's next challenge: minority rule (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Congrats to all of those who ran and to those we have been elected to lead. "It's official: the Liberals have a minority government. They've got ambitious plans, and they've made big promises. But even though they got a substantial 44 per cent of the popular vote, they're now leading a country where 41 per cent of voters coalesced around their biggest opponent, the Conservatives. And they're still dealing with Donald Trump's trade war. So how will they make it work?"

  5. Six charts that reveal the story of the 2025 election (The Globe and Mail) CANADIAN STORY "Over the past eight elections going back to 2004, Canadians have only twice elected a majority government. But the 2025 election, which returned Liberal Leader Mark Carney to the Prime Minister’s Office [...] still represents a departure from the usual pattern of Canadian elections. This was a two-party race. Normally Canadian elections are decided in the complicated riding dynamics of three- or four-party contests, with the New Democrats, the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the Green Party (in some constituencies) playing an often unpredictable role in the outcome. That was less the case this time, a fact reflected in the much higher vote share for the Liberal and Conservative parties."

  6. An energy superpower? Oilpatch skeptical of Carney's support for the sector (CBC) CALGARY STORY "Despite Mark Carney's pledges throughout the election campaign to kick-start the country's economy, build energy corridors and transform the country into an energy superpower, many in the oilpatch are unconvinced there will be any change in policy direction from the re-elected federal Liberals. Grant Fagerheim, CEO of oil company Whitecap Resources, woke up early Tuesday morning only to feel frustrated and anxious by the results of Monday's election. After a decade of the Liberals in power, Fagerheim described a feeling of disappointment among many in Calgary's downtown office towers where energy companies are headquartered."

  7. VIDEO: Canada scientists split water into hydrogen using nanowires, diffuse sunlight, urea (Interesting Engineering) EDMONTON STORY #Game-changer. Congrats to the research team. "University of Alberta (U of A) researchers have discovered a method to harness sunlight and specialized materials to cleanly and efficiently split water into hydrogen and oxygen. If scaled, this could prove to be a game-changer for providing portable, clean, and energy-dense fuel for the future. Hydrogen promises to provide a clean and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and could, it is hoped, become a major player in future energy mixes for many nations. However, at present, it is usually only made using solar panels to generate electricity, followed by electrolysis of water, which is very expensive and inefficient."

  8. Université de Montréal launches $25M philanthropic initiative to recruit top research talent (Science | Business) MONTREAL STORY So smart! "As many research institutions around the world face rising tensions disrupting the practice of science, Université de Montréal today announces a $25-million funding drive backed by generous sponsors that aims to recruit top researchers and promising young talents to its campuses. 'This initiative, part of our Brave the Way philanthropic campaign, demonstrates our commitment to welcoming the brightest talents from near and far to our research community and providing them with a vibrant space for free thought, scientific rigour, innovation and creativity,' said UdeM rector Daniel Jutras."

  9. Calgary Expo bigger, quite literally, for 2025 (LiveWire) CALGARY STORY ViTreo is proud to have worked with the Calgary Expo and is thrilled to see this success. "From the new halls of the BMO Centre, to the sidewalks lining the route, more people are visiting the Calgary Expo in 2025 than in years past. The long running event, which connects fans to their fandoms, has made full advantage of a number of changes in the city over the past year, including an expanded convention centre on Stampede Park to the necessity of no longer using Olympic Plaza for event programming to their advantage."

  10. VIDEO: Are you flourishing? Many young adults aren't, new study suggests (CBC) "People flourish when all major aspects of their life are good, but a new global study suggests that isn't the case for young adults in many high-income countries. That surprised the study's co-lead. Based on previous research in the field, Tyler VanderWeele of Harvard University says he was expecting middle-aged people to report to feeling worse about their physical and mental health, relationships, income, work and more. Not necessarily so, according to the 200,000 adults in 22 countries who responded to the Global Flourishing Study, the results of which were published in Wednesday's issue of the journal Nature Mental Health."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. The 10 Most Pet-Friendly Cities Around the World (Mental Floss) Ottawa is at the top of this. Go Ottawa!

  2. VIDEO: A man in Japan rents out his friendship by the hour–no strings attached–and he's making a fortune (Upworthy) This is brilliant. Hmmm....retirement project?

  3. Elevate your steak night with these expert wine pairing tips (The Manual) Mmmm...steak and...wine.

  4. VIDEO: Paul McCartney: Rearview Mirror: Photographs, December 1963–February 1964 | Gagosian (YouTube) I would love to see this.

  5. VIDEO: Chameleon Changing Color (YouTube) Wow, just wow.

  6. How to start a charcoal grill: It’s easier than you think (The Manual) I always use a chimney. Works like a charm.

  7. Summer Weddings (Valet Magazine) Nice styling.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. University of Utah receives $25 million for hospitality institute (Philanthropy News Digest) "The University of Utah has announced a $25 million gift from the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation to establish the J.W. Marriott, Jr. Institute, which will focus on hospitality."

  2. Mastercard Foundation, UNHCR commit $300 million to refugee education (Philanthropy News Digest) "The Mastercard Foundation has announced a five-year, $300 million partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in support of education initiatives for displaced refugees in Africa."

  3. Vernon Public Art Gallery receives $1M donation (Vernon Matters) VERNON STORY "The local art scene in Vernon is getting a significant boost. The Vernon Public Art Gallery said the Galbraith Family Foundation had pledged a $1,000,000 legacy gift donation to the gallery. These funds were intended to be used for the construction of the gallery’s new home in the Greater Vernon Cultural Centre, which is slated to begin in the summer."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

  1. Declining volunteerism rates on display in rural Alberta (St. Albert Gazette)

  2. Canada's Linkletter eyes 1st marathon win next month in Ottawa after 'surreal' Boston performance (CBC)

  3. Why the Dutch still honour Canadians, 80 years after their liberation from Germany (CBC)

  4. Pilgrims, tourists in St. Peter's Square for Easter express shock over Pope's death (CBC)

  5. Canadian climate philanthropy campaign climbs to nearly $500-million (Globe and Mail) CANADIAN STORY

Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo President & CEO Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca.

The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by ViTreo Group Inc. of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. ViTreo Group does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. All links are provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the ViTreo Group Inc. Please let us know about existing external links which you believe are inappropriate.

Vincent DuckworthComment