A U.S. border officer stands near a security booth. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)
By CBC News
The budget U.S. President Barack Obama submitted to Congress on Monday proposes to slap a $5.50 fee on every visitor from Canada who travels to the U.S. by air or by sea.
The fee would not apply to visitors arriving in private vehicles, thus exonerating typical cross-border shoppers.
Currently, visitors from Canada, Mexico and a number of Caribbean countries are exempt from "passenger inspection fees." It's an exemption these countries have enjoyed since 1997.
But Obama's 2012 draft budget includes a legislative proposal to lift those exemptions -- a move that a supporting document from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates would bring in an extra $110 million a year.
Revenue from the charges would be used to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection's inspection functions, the document says. Read more.
Do you think this border fee is reasonable?
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
Canadians' consumer debt increased in the final quarter of last year, but there was a surprising drop in the amount borrowed on credit cards, a credit analysis firm says.
TransUnion said average total debt per Canadian consumer, excluding mortgages, was $25,709 in the fourth quarter of 2010 -- up 5.6 per cent from $24,346 in the comparable period of 2009.
Only a small portion of the total in either year was drawn on credit cards, which usually charge among the highest rates of interest.
The surprise, according to TransUnion, was that the average credit card debt in the fourth quarter of 2010 dropped by 2.7 per cent from a year earlier to $3,688.
Lines of credit were the biggest form of consumer debt tracked, and increased to nearly $34,000 -- up 8.8 per cent over the year.
Auto loans were the second-biggest form of non-mortgage debt tracked by the report, and TransUnion found the Canadian average rose to nearly $16,200 per borrower in the fourth quarter, up 11 per cent from a year earlier.
How much debt are you carrying on credit cards? Do you move debt from credit cards to lines of credit to avoid the high interest rates? Let us know in the comments.
With files from the Canadian Press
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
China is ordering Chinese filmmakers and television producers to limit the amount of smoking depicted on-screen in an effort to curb tobacco use.
Plot lines and scenes involving smoking should only be used when necessary for artistic purposes or character development, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said on its website Tuesday.
Under the new rules, minors under age 18 cannot be shown smoking or buying cigarettes, and characters may not smoke in public buildings or other places where smoking is banned.
China has been tightening up restrictions on smoking over the past decade, banning tobacco advertising and sponsorships of major sporting events.
That's part of a slow realization of the massive toll heavy tobacco use is taking on an aging, increasingly urbanized population. Tobacco use is linked to the deaths of at least 1 million people every year in China, where 300 million people (or nearly 30 per cent of adults) smoke.
Last August, a group of Canadian doctors called on federal and provincial governments to stop subsidizing movie productions that depict smoking in films aimed at children and teens.
Studies worldwide show smoking in movies is a powerful way to recruit young people to the addiction, said Neil Collishaw, research director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.
With files from The Associated Press Read more. Do you want Canadian film and television producers to limit depictions of smoking on-screen? Do you think it would discourage young people from smoking? Let us know.
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
Suggestions for parents, teachers and caregivers to help children reduce their sedentary time. (Courtesy of CESP)
Canadian children and teens should spend no more than two hours a day sitting and watching TV or playing video games, new guidelines say.
The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology followed up on January's physical activity guidelines on Tuesday, saying mounting evidence supports the need to limit sedentary behaviour as a health issue distinct from moving more.
Children and youth spend an average of 8.6 hours per day, or 62 per cent of their waking hours being sedentary, the group noted.
But in an ideal day, the majority of time would be spent engaging in light intensity activity like cooking, about 25 per cent of the day sitting, with the rest of the day spent pursing moderate-intensity activities like cycling and vigorous-intensity activities like playing hockey, according to the society.
The impulse to constantly check a mobile phone for messages is similar to the feeling people get when they're playing slot machines at a casino, according to a psychology professor.
Steve Joordens, who teaches at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus, says devices like iPhones and BlackBerries are powerful tools because they allow people to instantly connect with their social networks.
Earning a positive social connection, such as receiving a friendly message or getting passed a link to a funny online video, can feel almost like earning money.
"Social reinforcements are often seen as the currency of the [online] realm," Joordens told Metro Morning contributor Jason Osler. "So that text from that somebody you met two days ago -- maybe it could wait, but at the same time, if you see that text, it can give you a real jolt, like 'Oh, she didn't forget me.'"
These social rewards -- and how randomly they come -- can keep people tethered to their smartphones like gamblers at a slot machine, Joordens said.
"The reason [slot machines] are so addictive is because a person's pumping in the money, they're pulling the arm, [and] they never know when that will pay off. But they know it will. So randomness has this way of promoting addictive behaviour. You keep waiting for that reward."
Ryerson new media student Keegan Shim knows the feeling well. He has a BlackBerry and estimates he sends and responds to at least 50 text messages a day, not including emails. Shim, 21, said he often feels the need to text during classes and will even respond to a text that wakes him up in the middle of the night.
"Nowadays, I feel like a phone is an extension of my body," he told Osler. "For some reason I just can't be without my phone. If I leave my house and I forget my phone at home, you definitely feel like you're missing something."
How often do you check your mobile phone messages? Do you think you're addicted to your phone? Let us know in the comments below.
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
Chicken bought at major supermarkets across Canada is frequently contaminated with superbugs -- bacteria that many antibiotics cannot kill -- an investigation by CBC TV's Marketplace has found.
Marketplace researchers -- along with their colleagues at Radio-Canada's food show L'Epicerie -- bought 100 samples of chicken from major grocery chains in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
The chicken included some of the most familiar label names in the poultry business. The 100 samples were sent to a lab for analysis. Two-thirds of the chicken samples had bacteria. That in itself is not unusual -- E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter are often present in raw chicken.
Do the CBC Marketplace findings make you concerned about the chicken you buy at the grocery store? What are your tips on handling raw meat? Tell us below.
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
Canadian beverage companies will put prominent labels on the front of their non-alcoholic drinks, showing how many calories are in a can or bottle.
Currently, information about calories is printed on the back of beverage containers.
The companies say the move is part of an industry-wide push to help people better understand how many calories they consume when drinking soft drinks, juices, fruit-based drinks, sports drinks and bottled waters.
Human Resources Minister Diane Finley says there's nothing wrong with choosing day care, but parents should have other options.
"We believe that [parents] should have a choice in their child care," Finley told the House of Commons Friday.
Finley had been criticized for a comment she made in the House of Commons Thursday, suggesting that the Liberal Party "wanted to ensure that parents were forced to have other people raise their children."
Earlier Thursday, the Liberals had promised to revive the national child care program the Conservatives scrapped five years ago in favour of a monthly $100 cheque for parents with children under six.
Liberal MP Bob Rae called Finley's initial assertion "the most bizarre comment.
"The notion somehow that child care is some form of alien abduction is just completely preposterous."
Do you have young children? Do you prefer receiving a monthly $100 benefit for your child care needs or would you rather see a national subsidized day care system? Let us know in the comments below.
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
A slew of RRSP commercials have been appearing on television lately, which can mean only thing: the March 1 deadline for Canadians to make RRSP contributions for the 2010 tax season is fast approaching.
Figures from last year show that, as usual, most people didn't make a contribution. The number of Canadians who contributed to an RRSP in the 2009 tax year actually fell about four per cent from the previous year to 5,967,000 -- about a quarter of all tax filers.
That could be because there's growing competition for Canadians' disposable income. Household debt is at an all-time high, so debt paydown is a top priority for many. Tax-free savings accounts are entering their third year of existence and are grabbing an ever bigger share of the investing pie. And a significant group of Canadians say they've just got no cash to spare for RRSPs.
And perhaps some Canadians are just plain confused about all the different savings plans and strategies available to them. For information on what's out there, check out CBCNews.ca's RRSP season primer. Do you contribute to an RRSP or TFSA? How do you invest your money? Let us know in the comments below.
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
More than 70 per cent of Irish employees say they have badmouthed their bosses on social networking sites.
The survey, conducted by employment law firm Peninsula Ireland, found that 73 per cent of respondents had used either Facebook or Twitter to criticize or disparage their employers.
Have you ever badmouthed your boss online? Do you know of an incident where someone's online behaviour got him or her into hot water professionally? Let us know in the comments.
(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)
A U.S. border officer stands near a security booth. (Dave Chidley/Canadian Press) By CBC NewsThe budget U.S. President Barack Obama submitted to Congress on Monday proposes to slap a $5.50 fee on every visitor from Canada who travels to... Continue reading this post
Canadians' consumer debt increased in the final quarter of last year, but there was a surprising drop in the amount borrowed on credit cards, a credit analysis firm says. TransUnion said average total debt per Canadian consumer, excluding mortgages,... Continue reading this post
China is ordering Chinese filmmakers and television producers to limit the amount of smoking depicted on-screen in an effort to curb tobacco use.Plot lines and scenes involving smoking should only be used when necessary for artistic purposes or character development,... Continue reading this post
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