Israel shuts down Associated Press live video feed of Gaza


By AFP
PublishedMay 21, 2024

A member of the media stands behind his camera at a spot overlooking the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Sderot in a file picture taken on October 26, 2023 

- Copyright AFP/File Sam YEH

Israel said it had shut down an Associated Press live video feed of war-torn Gaza on Tuesday, sparking a protest from the US news agency and concern from the White House.

Israel’s communications ministry accused the AP of breaching a new ban on providing rolling footage of Gaza to Qatar-based satellite channel Al Jazeera.

It said its inspectors moved in and “confiscated the equipment” on orders approved by the government “in accordance with the law”.

The AP said Israeli officials had seized its camera and broadcasting equipment at a location in the Israeli town of Sderot that overlooks the northern Gaza Strip.

“The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed,” the AP said in a statement.

It blamed “an abusive use” of Israel’s new foreign broadcaster law.

“We urge the Israeli authorities to return our equipment and enable us to reinstate our live feed immediately so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world,” the agency said.

AP, in its own news report, said Al Jazeera was among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the agency.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid reacted to the decision on X, saying the government “went crazy”.

“This is not Al Jazeera, this is an American media outlet that has won 53 Pulitzer Prizes,” he wrote.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on President Joe Biden’s plane that “obviously this is concerning and we want to look into it”.

The Qatar-based station was taken off air in Israel earlier this month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government voted to shut it down over its coverage of the Gaza war.

Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem offices were shuttered, its equipment confiscated and its team’s accreditations pulled.

– Camera, equipment seized –

The AP said that officials from the communications ministry had arrived at the AP location in Sderot on Tuesday afternoon and seized the equipment.

It said the officials had handed the AP a piece of paper, signed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, alleging it was violating the country’s new foreign broadcast law.

The ministry confirmed the incident in a statement.

It said the US news agency regularly took images of Gaza from the balcony of a house in Sderot, “including focusing on the activities of IDF (army) soldiers and their location”.

“Even though the inspectors of the Ministry of Communications warned them that they were breaking the law and that they should cut off Al Jazeera from receiving their content and not transfer a broadcast to Al Jazeera, they continued to do so,” it said.

“The inspectors of the Ministry of Communications operated in Sderot, as they operated last week in Nazareth, according to the orders approved by the government in accordance with the law, and confiscated the equipment.”

Last week, Israeli officials confiscated broadcasting equipment from Al Jazeera’s studio in the northern Israeli Arab city of Nazareth.

AP said it had been broadcasting a general view of northern Gaza before its equipment was seized, and that the live feed has generally shown smoke rising over the Palestinian territory.

“The AP complies with Israel’s military censorship rules, which prohibit broadcasts of details like troops movements that could endanger soldiers,” the agency added.

The Foreign Press Association in Israel, said it was “alarmed” by the confiscation of AP’s equipment.

“Israel’s move today is a slippery slope,” it said in a statement, warning it could lead to the blocking of other international news agencies’s Gaza coverage.

It denounced Israel’s “dismal” record on press freedom during the Gaza war.

In the 2024 press freedom index published by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, Israel ranked 101st out of 180 countries.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took 252 hostages, 124 of whom remain in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,647 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

 

Tesla shareholder group slams Elon Musk's US$56 billion pay package

Dana Hull, Bloomberg News

A coalition of Tesla Inc. shareholders is urging its peers to reject the US$56 billion pay package for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk that the company’s board has asked investors to approve again.

Amalgamated Bank, SOC Investment Group and six other signatories that hold a small portion of Tesla stock said Musk is distracted by his commitments to the five other companies he controls and isn’t serving the carmaker’s best interests. The group also urged shareholders to vote against the reelection of directors Kimbal Musk — Elon Musk’s brother — and James Murdoch.

“Tesla is suffering from a material governance failure which requires our urgent attention and action,” the group wrote in a letter to shareholders on Monday.

Musk’s pay package, which shareholders first approved in 2018, granted the CEO equity awards as Tesla’s market capitalization increased and as it hit certain operational targets. While the company met all the conditions for Musk to receive the full payout of stock options, a Delaware judge voided the deal in late January, saying it was unfair to shareholders who weren’t fully informed of key details.

Tesla’s board is putting the pay package to a vote for a second time to prove investors still support the award. It’s been urging investors to ratify Musk’s pay package and has hired a strategic adviser to boost retail investor participation. The company has scheduled its annual meeting for June 13.

Many signatories of Monday’s solicitation published a separate open letter to Tesla’s board more than a year ago, expressing concerns about Musk’s many commitments and asking for a meeting with board chair Robyn Denholm. She never responded, the group said.

Musk’s decision to buy Twitter, now called X, has “played a material role in Tesla’s underperformance,” the shareholders said. They note that one of the board’s stated reasons for the magnitude of the CEO pay award was to keep Musk focused on the company’s long-term success.

“If this was one of the primary reasons for the 2018 pay package, then it has been an abysmal failure, as six years later Musk’s outside business commitments have only increased,” the shareholders wrote. Musk founded another startup last year, called xAI, that has hired away artificial intelligence specialists from Tesla.

Tesla shares fell as much as 1.1 per cent before the start of regular trading Tuesday and have slumped 30 per cent this year.

The coalition of shareholders also raised concerns in their letter about how Tesla’s sales have trended and its disappointing first-quarter results.

“Even as Tesla’s performance is floundering, the board has yet to ensure that Tesla has a full-time CEO who is adequately focused on the long-term sustainable success of our company,” the group said.

Eyes in the sky' for wildfire detection in Canada are our first line of defence

Filmmaker Tova Krentzman's documentary "Fire Tower" takes us inside the unique lives of fire lookouts

Elisabetta Bianchini
Wed, May 15, 2024 

While thousands of Canadians have already been forced to evacuate from their homes as wildfires spread, filmmaker Tova Krentzman has documented the fascinating lives of people who help protect Canadians from the threat of these fires. The documentary Fire Tower shows us the "eyes in the sky" who spot the smoke, perched up high in the Rocky Mountains and the Yukon, providing essential information for fire safety networks.

"I actually worked in a wildfire fighting camp in northern Alberta one summer," Krentzman told Yahoo Canada, during the 2024 Hot Docs Festival. "I was working in the beginning of the season ... and so a lot of the lookouts ... were staying at the camp on their way to their respective towers."

"So I got to meet them and talk to them and get to know them, hear their stories, and I was completely fascinated by what they do. ... They were talking about how ... they didn't know how long their positions would be lasting, the lookout. So it sort of planted the seed for me."

Kimberly Jackson in fire tower lookout, gazing through binoculars spotting smoke in the documentary Fire Tower

Not many provinces in Canada have lookouts anymore. As Fire Tower highlights, Canada has 110 active fire lookouts across the country. Individuals looking out from these towers are able to spot up to 40 per cent of wildfires.

In Alberta, Krentzman had to get access to the towers from the government, who put together the list of people she could access for the film, getting to them by road. In the Yukon, which is where Krentzman lives, there are only six lookout there, which the filmmaker could go to, with access from that local government as well.

"Everyone is so passionate, they're so passionate about their jobs, they care so much about what they're doing that I think they were happy to share their story," Krentzman said.

While being a lookout is a unique role in and of itself, the isolated nature of the job also provides a unique opportunity to be introspective. While several lookouts featured in the documentary love the freedom of being high up in these structures alone, they're also facing some more challenging realities of how it impacts other parts of their lives, like the ability to have children. But ultimately, there is so much passion for the people who take on these positions.



TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - 2024/04/29: (L-R) Caitlin Durlak, Tova Krentzman, and Louis Hearn attend "Fire Tower" premiere, Hot Docs Film Festival at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Lightbox in Toronto, Canada. High in the Rocky Mountains are solitary sentinels who survey the landscape as a critical first line of defence in wildfire detection. As North America grapples every year with the threat and devastation of such fires, those who work on the watchtowers with a bird's-eye view sound the critical alarm that warns of impending danger. Director Tova Krentzman crafts a portrait of these guardians, observing the observers as they share their keen insights about the natural world and our connection to it. (Photo by Shawn Goldberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Technology replacing the human eye

With a character-driven narrative from the seven subjects of this documentary, Krentzman also highlights how critical these lookout roles are. The ability to have human radar for wildfires.

"This is kind of the unsung hero type of scenario," Krentzman said. "They're really the first signs of detection and the earlier you spot smoke or the earlier you spot a fire, the more chance you have of bringing it under control."

"That's really the essence of the lookout is their ability, with their eyes, to just see that tiny whiff of smoke and call it in, and that then leads to the whole series of events of the helicopter, the planes, the people that work in wildland protection. It's a beautiful synchronicity, but it's so wild to just think of that one person up there. ... I do hope that people have that ability to know what's actually going on, who's spending six months in a tower to make sure they're safe."

Fire Tower also addresses technology and automation impacting the role of these lookouts, raising the question of whether the human eye can actually be replaced.

"There really isn't any technology that's around at this time that can replace the human eye," Krentzman stressed. "I think our tendency in the world is to move towards these technological advances and changes, and then decisions are made in boardrooms, not by the people often involved in the actual wildfire departments. So it might not be around forever."

"It is interesting to see, what is our big drive to always replace things some technological advance, when we have something that's working so well. ... In this situation, I'm not sure there is a benefit. Even if at some point there's something that's similar, in terms of ability, does it still makes sense to replace a person that's doing such a good job at what they're doing? What does make sense is to combine, is to have a combination of factors. Right now they're able to see where lightning strikes happen, and that's very helpful and used in conjunction with the lookouts. ... But hopefully they can work together as opposed to the idea of one replacing the other."

Maker of popular weedkiller amplifies fight against cancer-related lawsuits

The Canadian Press
Tue, May 21, 2024 



JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — After failing in several U.S. states this year, global chemical manufacturer Bayer said Tuesday that it plans to amplify efforts to create a legal shield against a proliferation of lawsuits alleging it failed to warn that its popular weedkiller could cause cancer.

Bayer, which disputes the cancer claims, has been hit with about 170,000 lawsuits involving its Roundup weedkiller and has set aside $16 billion to settle cases. But the company contends the legal fight “is not sustainable” and is looking to state lawmakers for relief.

Bayer lobbied for legislation that could have blocked a central legal argument this year in Missouri, Iowa and Idaho — home, respectively, to its North America crop science division, a Roundup manufacturing facility and the mines from which its key ingredient is derived. Though bills passed at least one chamber in Iowa and Missouri, they ultimately failed in all three states.

But Bayer plans a renewed push during next year's legislative sessions and may expand efforts elsewhere.

“This is bigger than just those states, and it’s bigger than just Bayer," said Jess Christiansen, head of Bayer's crop science and sustainability communications. “This is really about the crop protection tools that farmers need to secure production.”

Many U.S. farmers rely on Roundup, which was introduced 50 years ago as a more efficient way to control weeds and reduce tilling and soil erosion. For crops including corn, soybeans and cotton, it’s designed to work with genetically modified seeds that resist Roundup’s deadly effect.

The lawsuits allege Roundup's key ingredient, glyphosate, causes a cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Though some studies associate glyphosate with cancer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans when used as directed.

The legislation backed by Bayer would protect pesticide companies from claims they failed to warn their products could cause cancer if their labels otherwise comply with EPA regulations.

Some lawmakers have raised concerns that if the lawsuits persist, Bayer could pull Roundup from the U.S. market, forcing famers to turn to alternatives from China.

Christiansen said Bayer has made no decisions about Roundup's future but "will eventually have to do something different if we can’t get some consistency and some path forward around the litigation industry.”

Bayer's most recent quarterly report shows that it shed more than 1,500 employees, reducing its worldwide employment to about 98,000. Bayer submitted a notice to Iowa that 28 people would be laid off starting Wednesday at its facility in Muscatine.

The Iowa layoffs are not a direct result of the failure of the protective legislation, Christiansen said, but are part of a global restructuring amid “multiple headwinds,” which include litigation.

Bayer has bankrolled a new coalition of agriculture groups that has run TV, radio, newspaper and billboard ads backing protective legislation for pesticide producers. The campaign has especially targeted Missouri, where most of the roughly 57,000 still active legal claims are pending. Missouri was the headquarters of Roundup's original manufacturer, Monsanto, which Bayer acquired in 2018.

Legal experts say protective legislation is unlikely to affect existing lawsuits. But it could limit future claims.

The annual deadline to pass legislation in Missouri expired last Friday. Though a Bayer-backed bill cleared the Republican-led House and a Senate committee, it never got debated by the full GOP-led Senate, which was mired in unrelated tensions.

If the legislation is revived next year, it could face resistance from senators concerned about limiting people’s constitutional right to a jury trial to resolve disputes.

“I support farmers, but I also think they need due process,” said Republican state Sen. Jill Carter, who voted against the legislation this year in the Senate agriculture committee.

David A. Lieb, The Associated Press

A 50,000-Year-Old Block of Ice Paints the Most Chilling Picture of the Future Ever

Darren Orf
Tue, May 21, 2024 

Past CO2 Rise Can't Even Compare to Climate Change

Peter Dazeley - Getty Images


Scientists from the Oregon State University conducted chemical analyses on air bubbles trapped within the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core.


They discovered that, in the last glacial period, Earth experienced its highest CO2 increase: 14 parts per million in just 55 years. Not, our planet experiences that increase every five years.


The mechanism of these natural CO2 increases suggest that increasing westerly winds in the Southern hemisphere could weaken the Southern Ocean’s ability to absorb CO2.

A favorite refrain among the dwindling number of climate deniers is that increases in temperature and carbon dioxide levels are a natural part of the Earth’s atmospheric cycle. And while the planet has certainly seen some rise and falls in both of those metrics over thousands (and even millions) of years, what the planet is currently experiencing far outstrips everything that has come before.

In a new study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists from Oregon State University identified the fastest natural rates of CO2 rise over the past 50,000 years. To do this, the research team tapped into bubbles of air trapped in West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide ice core that essentially preserved the delicate balance of gasses present in Earth’s atmosphere at the time of their icy entombment.

The team had to drill some 2 miles deep to get enough ice to study a 50,000 year time span. After conducting an extensive chemical analysis, the researchers discovered just how extreme and outlier the current rising CO2 levels fueling our current climate crisis are compared to the rest of Earth’s recent geologic history.

“Studying the past teaches us how today is different. The rate of CO2 change today really is unprecedented,” OSU’s Kathleen Wendt, the lead author of the study, said in a press statement. “Our research identified the fastest rates of past natural CO2 rise ever observed, and the rate occurring today, largely driven by human emissions, is 10 times higher.”

During the most recent glacial period, CO2 levels rose 14 parts per million in the span of roughly 55 years—today, a similar increase takes only 5 or 6 years.

Usually—that is, when humans aren’t sowing the seeds of own climate destruction—the Earth experiences periodic increases in CO2 levels due to an effect known as Heinrich Events. Named after German marine geologist Hartmut Heinrich, these events coincide with a cold spell in the North Atlantic caused by icebergs breaking off from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. This causes a kind of chain reaction that leads to a change in global climate patterns.

“We think [Heinrich events] are caused by a dramatic collapse of the North American ice sheet,” OSU’s Christo Buizert, a co-author on the study, said in a press statement. “This sets into motion a chain reaction that involves changes to the tropical monsoons, the Southern hemisphere westerly winds and these large burps of CO2 coming out of the oceans.”

This small bit about westerly winds is particularly bad news. Climate models suggest that these winds will only increase as the planet warms, meaning the Southern Ocean could lose a lot of its much-needed carbon dioxide-absorbing ability.

While this news is all definitely one big climate bummer, maybe there’s at least some hope that this last vestige of climate denialism will finally face oblivion, and humanity can focus on the hard and necessary work of cleaning up our mess.

Orphan orca's extended family spotted off northeast side of Vancouver Island

The Canadian Press
Tue, May 21, 2024 

ALERT BAY, B.C. — Members of a killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.

Marine scientist Jared Towers says in a social media post he was surprised to see members of the calf's great grandmother's pod swimming in ocean waters near Alert Bay.

Towers, an expert in identifying whales by their distinct individual markings, says he saw the T109 pod swim out of Pearse Pass near Alert Bay on Monday, but the female orphan known as kwiisahi?is or Brave Little Hunter was not with the killer whales.

Alert Bay is about 100 kilometres south of Zeballos near Esperanza Inlet where kwiisahi?is was last reportedly seen earlier this month, after she swam free of the lagoon where she had been trapped for weeks after her pregnant mother became stranded and died on March 23.

Towers, who could not be reached for comment, says in his post there have been no reported sightings of the calf since May 10, which likely means she is on the move looking for family.

He says there are previous cases of lost or orphaned killer whale calves reuniting with their extended families or being adopted by other orcas, but it takes time and is not guaranteed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2024.

B.C.'s Site C dam should have minimal impact on N.W.T. water levels, hydrologist says

CBC
Tue, May 21, 2024 

The Site C Dam location is seen along the Peace River in Fort St. John, B.C., in 2017. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press - image credit)

A hydrologist with the N.W.T. government says that filling B.C.'s Site C dam on the Peace River will have minimal impact on waterways downstream, including Great Slave Lake and the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers.

Later this summer, B.C. Hydro is planning to fill the reservoir of the Site C dam. That has some N.W.T residents concerned about the effects downstream, as water levels in the territory are already at historic lows.

Ryan Connon, hydrologist with the territorial government, said when the dam is filled, there will be a "one-time loss" on Great Slave Lake.


The maximum impact, Connon said, would be a loss of 8.5 centimetres on lake. He said that water likely won't be permanently taken away, because snow melt and rain will replenish it.

He said that when Site C is filled, the "most notable impact" will be on the Peace River, followed by the Slave River, then Great Slave Lake, and then the Mackenzie River.

Impacts on the Mackenzie River will be less than on Great Slave Lake, but Connon said he can't give an exact number because water levels along the river fluctuate, with higher water where the river is more narrow.

People could see different changes throughout the river, depending on where they are.

"In the summer, some of those events could be augmented by precipitation, making them even more striking," Connon said.

Significant changes to the river levels over the summer are probably a combination of precipitation and the W.A.C. Bennett dam in northern B.C., Connon said.

'Huge impacts'

Jon McDonald, the environmental manager for the Fort Smith Métis Council, helps monitor water quality and wildlife along the Slave River.

McDonald said the council is concerned about impacts of the W.A.C. Bennett dam, and that there's been lower water downstream and greater fluctuations in water levels since the dam was installed.


Jon McDonald with the team of field workers deploying remote wildlife monitoring cameras.

Jon McDonald, the environmental manager for the Fort Smith Métis Council, said the council is concerned about impacts of the Bennett Dam. (Submitted)

"There's very little to no communication from the dams as to when they're releasing or retaining water," McDonald said. "The impacts I don't think are fully addressed."

McDonald also said changing water levels have impacts on wildlife, like spawning fish having trouble going up the river.

"There's huge impacts when the waters are fluctuating like that," McDonald said.

McDonald is worried that filling the Site C Dam could reduce water levels further.

"That's a large volume of water, to drop down 8.5 centimetres" he said. "It's definitely going to impact the environment."

 

Lululemon to acquire Mexico franchisee, retail locations

Kim Bhasin, Bloomberg News

Lululemon Athletica Inc. has agreed to acquire the operations and retail locations of its franchise partner in Mexico.

The local franchisee, Lululemon Mexico, runs 15 stores in the country and has been in business since the Vancouver-based athletic-wear brand entered the market in 2017. All its employees will migrate over to Lululemon, the company confirmed in an email. It didn’t disclose financial terms. 

“Mexico remains an exciting market for Lululemon,” Celeste Burgoyne, president of Americas and global guest innovation at Lululemon, said in an emailed statement. “We believe we are well-positioned to continue expanding in the region.”

Chief Executive Officer Calvin McDonald said on a conference call with analysts in March that all its international markets have had “strong momentum” this quarter. The company has been on a strong post-pandemic run with double-digit sales growth despite declines at many North American apparel retailers. 

 

ISS supports Gildan nominees put forward by activist shareholder Browning West

The Canadian Press

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. is throwing its support behind a slate of board nominees and a former chief executive that dissident Gildan Activewear Inc. shareholders have been fighting to see run the company.

ISS, a prominent advisory service, is recommending shareholders vote for eight nominees put forward by Browning West and withhold votes from another slate pitched by the Montreal-based apparel manufacturer's current management.

The Browning West slate includes former Gildan chief executive Glenn Chamandy, while the group put forward by management features current chief executive Vince Tyra.

A report ISS issued to detail their recommendations points out that Gildan's operating performance over the last five years was moderately better than its peers and adds Tyra's past experience fails to establish him as a superior option to Chamandy.

Chamandy was ousted from Gildan last year to make way for Tyra. At the time, the company said it made the swap because Chamandy had no credible long-term strategy for the company and had lost the board's trust and confidence.

A spokesperson for Gildan says the company has no comment on the ISS recommendations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2024.

Gildan investors should back browning and reinstate fired CEO, ISS says

Crystal Tse and Derek Decloet, Bloomberg News

Gildan Activewear Inc. shareholders should vote for all eight board nominees put forward by activist investor Browning West LP, including the chief executive officer who was fired by the board last year, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. said. 

It’s a big victory for Browning West, which has a 5 per cent stake in Gildan and has been waging a monthslong campaign to turf the current board and bring back Glenn Chamandy as CEO. He was ousted in December after an internal battle over strategy and succession. 

“The dissident has presented a compelling case to reverse the change implemented by the legacy board,” ISS said in a report to clients.

Montreal-based Gildan makes cheap clothing for companies such as Walmart Inc. and owns the American Apparel brand.

Browning’s proposed slate is led by Michael Kneeland, the chair of United Rentals Inc., who would become the new chair of Gildan if the investment firm is successful in the shareholder vote that’s scheduled for May 28. 

Two Gildan lawsuits against Browning West dismissed amid leadership battle: investor

The Canadian Press

Browning West LP says two lawsuits launched by Gildan Activewear Inc.'s board against the investor have been dismissed.

The activist investor is among several major Gildan shareholders that have been campaigning to have the clothing maker's former CEO reinstated.

In a statement Thursday, Browning West said the two lawsuits were dismissed by the Superior Court of Quebec and the Quebec Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal.

Gildan announced late last year that longtime CEO Glenn Chamandy was being replaced, and several investors including Browning West are now fighting to have him brought back. 

Browning West has nominated eight people including Chamandy for election to the Gildan board of directors at the company's annual meeting on May 28.

Gildan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2024.

 

Equifax Canada exploring use of payday loan data in credit score calculation

The Canadian Press

Equifax Canada says it's exploring how using payday loan data could affect people's credit scores.

The agency says including data sources that aren't traditionally used to calculate credit scores could help paint a more complete picture of consumers' credit health. 

Equifax says this could improve credit scores for consumers with "responsive repayment of payday loans," potentially leading to better loan terms and interest rates for those customers as they seek to rebuild their credit. 

Last month, Equifax said it was exploring the use of rental data in calculating credit scores, adding that including "alternative data" could establish or enhance the credit scores for millions of Canadians. 

The federal budget called on banks, fintechs and credit bureaus to prioritize launching tools that would allow renters to opt in to reporting their rent payment history

The government says this could help more renters become homeowners by strengthening their credit scores if they have a history of on-time rental payments. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2024.