YOUR MORNING NEWS SCRAMBLE

Moe Money!!

On Oct. 1, the minimum wage across the province increased from $16.55 per hour to $17.20 - is it enough??? The Ontario Living Wage Network says it’s about $8 short of what’s livable. On the other hand, 83% of small business owners are concerned about the cost, and a number of them have already had to increase prices due to recent wage hikes.

Ever thought about being a teacher?

Summers off…great hours.  Maybe now is your time.  Teacher retirements and student enrolment are both on the rise and the Ministry of Education expects it to get even worse in 2027.  

Heading to a walk-in clinic?

Be careful  - it could cost you your doctor.  Your doc might get penalized if you go to a walk-in and potentially kick you off their roster, so some patients have started going to the ER instead. Some doctors and patients say the penalization policy is a problem!

Who’s a good boy???

How quickly do you speak to your dog?  Turns out speaking slooooowly to K9s helps them understand you better! It works for roosters too!

A HEALTHY START!

A Sweet New Solution for Baldness?

Scientists doing research on wound healing may have accidently discovered a new solution for hair loss.  Experts say a naturally occurring sugar in the body appears to boost blood supply to hair follicles and encourage hair growth.  More research is needed, but the sugar treatment could be easier and safer than existing drugs.

More than Deep Breaths

The team at BBC Science Focus has put together a list of eight simple strategies to beat anxiety.  Listening to a rooster crow is not one of them.

KEEP THE CHANGE!

A 600-pound beaver?

One of the guys who runs Shopify says a lack of ambition in Canada is “the 600-pound beaver in the room.”  He says it’s leading to Canadian companies being acquired by foreigners, rather than striving for more and remaining headquartered north of the border.  Harley Finkelstein made the comments at a tech conference in Toronto.

GST/HST Credits are coming

If you’re eligible for the GST/HST credit the last payment of the year gets sent out this week.  The credits are targeted at families with adjusted net income lower than $70,000.  The payment is meant to help offset the GST/HST paid this year.  For the full year, a single Canadian could get up to $519, couples $680, and up to $179 for each child under 19 years old.

407 buy back?

Doug Ford says the province is thinking about forking out to buy back the 407.  This is in addition to his tunnel-under-the-401 idea.  The government sold the 407 for $3.1-billion in 1999.  Who knows what it would go for today?

TEST OF THE DAY

Do you have secret psychopathic tendencies? A psych prof at Oregon State University has come up with a 27-point quiz that should let you know in about five minutes. Good luck with that.

FLY LIKE A BIRD!

What are your top countries to visit? Conde Nast readers have picked their Top 20! Japan, Portugal, and Turkey round out the top 3.