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SmileDirectClub shuts down months after filing for bankruptcy protection

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SmileDirectClub shuts down months after filing for bankruptcy protection

SmileDirectClub is shutting down just months after the struggling teeth-straightening company filed for bankruptcy protection. In a Friday announcement, the U.S.-based company that was operating in multiple countries, including Canada, said it had made an “incredibly difficult decision to wind down its global operations, effective immediately.” That leaves existing customers in limbo. SmileDirectClub’s aligner treatment through … Read more

Time’s up for some short-term rentals in B.C. as new housing rules look set to transform scene

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Time’s up for some short-term rentals in B.C. as new housing rules look set to transform scene

Nancy Paine’s short-term rental business is dead in the water. As co-founder and CEO of Victoria-based Superhost, Paine said she had been at the forefront of the Airbnb revolution for seven years, acting as a “liaison” for homeowners needing help with the logistics of running a listing on the accommodation site. At the peak of … Read more

Ottawa getting $40 million refund from former parent company of Quebec COVID vaccine maker

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Ottawa getting million refund from former parent company of Quebec COVID vaccine maker

Ottawa will be getting a $40 million refund after it gave Quebec City-based biopharmaceutical company Medicago more than $300 million to develop and manufacture a home-grown COVID-19 vaccine that never made it to market. The news comes after Conservative, Bloc and NDP MPs on the House of Commons health committee grilled staff from Canada’s procurement department this … Read more

This Detroit street can charge EVs as they drive

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This Detroit street can charge EVs as they drive

Crews have installed what’s billed as the first wireless-charging public roadway in the U.S. for electric vehicles. It’s beneath a street just west of downtown Detroit. Copper inductive charging coils allow vehicles equipped with receivers to charge up their batteries while driving, idling or parking above the coils. The segment of 14th Street will be … Read more

Local groups say new funding will help promote living shorelines in N.S.

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Local groups say new funding will help promote living shorelines in N.S.

The Nova Scotia government has pledged more than $2.4 million to seven community-led projects that focus on living shorelines. Living shorelines are seen as a nature-based way to reduce coastal erosion and flooding caused by climate change. They use natural materials — rocks, plants and sand — to stabilize land along the coast. One group to receive … Read more

Long-term plan in the works for baby mammoth found last year in Yukon

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Long-term plan in the works for baby mammoth found last year in Yukon

Nun cho ga, the baby wooly mammoth whose extraordinarily preserved remains caused a sensation after they were dug up by a miner near Dawson City, Yukon, last year, could soon be heading to Ottawa — at least for a period. The rare specimen — believed to be about 30,000 to 35,000 years old — has been stored in a … Read more