Gaming Venues Closing

AGLC spokesperson Heather Holmen stated that they decided to do this since many gaming venues in the province have temporarily closed since the province ordered them to reduce the limit or capacity for in-person access. 

She added that ever since the coronavirus pandemic started, AGLC was trying its best to balance operational and budgetary challenges that it brought forth. The spokesperson continued saying that they managed to balance things with the COVID-19 restrictions without the need for laying off staff; however, things have changed, and they have no choice. 

The Majority of Edmonton and Calgary Casino Employees to Lose Work

The layoffs have affected casino workers throughout Alberta, with the hardest-hit cities being Edmonton and Calgary.

Holmen also said that their agency understands that casino employees in this province and their stakeholders who have been affected by the pandemic are going through stressful times. She added that operations and the support that they always give their regulator’s partners won’t change due to the layoffs. 

Alberta’s Relaunch Strategy to Open the Economy

 On March 17, 2020, casinos in Alberta ceased operations to control the spread of the coronavirus. Alberta’s relaunch strategy was put in place as a safe recovery plan to reopen the province’s economy. On June 12, the second phase allowed casinos to reopen in the province. 

While there were no restrictions on capacity, operators were asked to ensure that they follow the rules to curb the disease. These include keeping a physical distance of 1.5 m, installing physical barriers or spacing stations, making sanitizers available for punters to use, and frequently cleaning and disinfecting the most-touched surfaces. 

The province didn’t set any rules about wearing masks or the number of times casinos should clean and disinfect the most-touched surfaces. During this period, table games were not allowed to open. It was until September 3 when Alberts allowed casinos to open table games to their customers. But they didn’t put any rules in place that would ensure the health and safety of employees and players. 

However, one of the places where gambling is thriving is OnlineCasinos.net, where Canadian punters can play online with no problems.

New Rules Set in Place to Curb COVID-19

On November 24, new rules were put in place that stated that every indoor workplace in Calgary and Edmonton must ensure that their employees and customers wear a mask. The new rules also reduced the capacity at casinos to 25%. 

Alberta later introduced new coronavirus safety restrictions and asked all gyms and casinos to shut down. Additionally, these new rules banned dine-in service in eateries and bars starting from December 13, 2020. 

Currently, Alberta has more than 116,000 cases of coronavirus, with over 1,400 deaths. For this reason, there’s no word on when the 265 employees will return to work.

More Canadian Gambling News /?s=casino

“We’re sort of helping them become not only good basketball players, but also better humans,” Shelby Weaver told local radio in Toronto.

As the manager of player development for the team, Weaver helps the players fulfil their potential as athletes and people, she said.

The team’s historic win against the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals hasn’t fully hit her yet.

“It still seems very surreal,” said Weaver, who grew up in Halifax and graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. “There’s 29 other amazing NBA teams and winning the NBA championship is a bit like winning the lottery.”

Shelby will get an official championship ring and the chance to bring the trophy home to the Atlantic this summer.

A Community Energy and Climate Action Plan is being worked on by the city with the goal  to develop targets for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions as well as comprehensive strategies for reaching them.

The plan is a serious attempt at dealing with the changing threat of climate change and a tender was put out Tuesday for a consultant to craft accurate ideas of future energy consumption and emissions up to 2050 in a variety of sectors important to the municipality.

Obviously models going fifty years into the future are going to be inherently ineffective, but this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be created and attempted.

The projections aim to help the City of Halifax understand what needs to happen for climate change goals to be meet says Shannon Miedema, the municipality’s energy and environment manager and head of local betting sites

“We’re talking about transformative change…. Where would we even start? What would it take? How drastically would we need to change the way we essentially function?”

The Community Energy and Climate Action Plan combines two previous plans — the Community Energy Plan and the Corporate Plan to Reduce GHG Emissions 2012-2020.

The municipality’s current target is to reduce emissions within the corporation — including buildings, outdoor lighting and all fleet vehicles with the exception of Halifax Transit — to 30 per cent below 2008 levels by 2020.

Miedema said the municipality is doing “not great” at achieving that goal, having only reached about a third of the target so far.

“I don’t think we’re going to hit it,” she said. “And the problem is, we’re a growing city and so we’ve built some really large facilities, and even though we’ve built them arguably green, or greener, or more sustainable than just the standard building, they still consume a lot of energy.

“Even if you’re shaving energy here and there on retrofits or lighting replacements and different projects, when you’re building a big shiny new library or a big four-pad [arena], you’re still increasing your emissions.”

The city doesn’t want to risk failing to make necessary changes to prepare to adapt to climate change. The municipality faces hazards include sea-level rise, flooding, high winds, storm surges, wildfires, diseases and invasive species, Miedema said.

“Climate-related emergencies are becoming more frequent, more extreme and therefore there’s more need to prepare,” she said.

The municipality has previously taken some steps to prevent climate change-related damage which include restricting plans for new developments that take sea level predictions 80 years into the future into consideration. But there’s a lot more work to be done, said Miedema from online slots Canada.

“We have a lot of infrastructure that may be in the path of these hazards.”

While there are many benefits of working from home – from reduced commuting costs to a better work-life balance – it can also pose challenges. Your home is full of distractions and many home-based workers report feeling lonely due to a lack of human contact.

So, how can you overcome these challenges and make telecommuting work for you? Here are a few tips for staying motivated and healthy as a remote worker – whether you are an online marketer or playing online blackjack Canada

Create a space that inspires you

With the flexibility to work from any given location, it can be tempting to kick back in bed or work while lounging on the sofa. However, your productivity is likely to suffer as a result, and bad posture can also lead to musculoskeletal problems.

By creating a dedicated workspace in your home and surrounding yourself with things that inspire you, you can free yourself of distractions and stay focused. This needn’t be an entire room if you’re short on space; it could be as simple as a desk in the corner of your kitchen or an unused space in the hall.

Equip your workspace with efficient storage to avoid clutter and, most importantly, a comfortable desk chair that offers good support to encourage healthy posture.

Interior designer Cathy Phillips advises that, “having everything in its place and furniture arranged in a pleasing and practical way will make for a calming environment. If you can’t find what you need, or you can’t reach that all-important file, your mood is bound to be affected.”

Keep work and home life separate

It’s easy for the boundaries between business and home life to become blurred when you work from home. Daily chores can creep into the working day, and it can be difficult to ‘switch off’ after hours.

To maintain a work-life-balance, set yourself a routine that will separate the two areas of your life. Get up at the same time each morning and do your best to work similar hours throughout the week so you know when to call it a day and give yourself time to relax and potentially enjoy some sports betting NZ.

Look after your mental health

Working from home can be isolating without the company of colleagues that being in an office offers. Over time, this can lead to feelings of loneliness and become detrimental to your mental wellbeing.

Occupational psychologist Gail Kinman says that the key to good mental health is to, “avoid being ‘always on’, as downtime is essential for mental and physical health and effectiveness at work. Make sure you schedule in breaks and have human contact.”

Look after your emotional wellbeing by setting aside time to catch up with friends and family, whether it be for a quick coffee at a local café, a bite to eat on their lunch break or even just a chat on the phone.

Incorporating some sort of exercise into your routine is also essential for good health, particularly if you lead a sedentary desk lifestyle. Head out for a brisk walk each day and reap the benefits of a dose of fresh air. Plus, simply getting out of the house can do wonders for your productivity and creativity.

On top of these considerations, it’s essential to identify what works for you personally and to understand what environment you work best in. Having done so, you can create a workspace that helps you thrive. For more tips on creating your very own home office heaven, check out the full article by Hiscox.

Safe Market

Thanks to that mentality Forex brokers regulated by the Canadian financial watchdogs like the CSA and IIROC are one of the most trustworthy and reliable ones out there if you are looking for real money slots. But even though all of these good features may tell you something about the brokers, it is important to answer additional questions like what do the regulators do and how brokers are able to work with them.

The Guidelines

The guidelines for Forex brokers willing to establish themselves in Canada are quite simple really. Don’t be a scam! But that’s way too vague. Let’s discuss why it is a good place to operate. First things first, Canada is the home of one of the world’s major currencies the CAD, therefore brokers tend to have better deals with pairing it with something else.

One of the primary aspects of the Canadian regulators is also the fact that they require all of the brokers to register multiple times. Why? The reason is, of course, the multiple provinces that the country has. For example, all of the provinces feature their own financial watchdogs which may have guidelines that are slightly different or add some additional requirements.
To bring this into perspective, a Forex broker operating in Toronto may have a completely different experience of operations compared to a Forex broker in Quebec.
Although the Main regulatory body is considered to be the CSA, IIROC the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada is the one that deals with most of the applications. For example, if a broker wants to register for services connected to margin, they will have to apply with them.

Serious Regulations

The regulatory bodies are not to be joked around with. They are quick on their feet and are always conducting surveillance of the brokers. This creates a compliance system for all of the brokers, a system that may cost them quite a lot of money. However, in order to be the best accessible market, it could be the CSA and IIROC aren’t as concerned with customer profits as much as they are concerned with their safety and real money online pokies

This mentality is what birthed the leverage reduction amendment with the watchdogs. Seeing how many traders would get themselves into a lot of trouble, the regulators saw it necessary to reduce the maximum leverage a broker could offer.
However, there are people criticizing this, saying that lower leverage doesn’t eradicate safety issues, it actually increases it. With no leverage, traders start to deposit their own money for higher volume trades. Because of this, they are more susceptible to losing money they can’t gain back or may find it hard to gain back. Sure this may help with loans and what not, but having the extra option of higher leverage was still a good feature, maybe not needed to tamper with.

Security

Even though there are concerns about the stringent guidelines, the Canadian Regulators are by far one of the best ones in the world. Their budgets and experience help them to conduct constant surveillance of the brokerages, weeding out scams before they sprout out of control. The Canadians had good case studies from the Americans, which they were able to analyze and optimize.

Thanks to the years of research, we no have a better regulated, safer environment for Forex enthusiasts.

sources:

https://www.forexnewsnow.com/brokers/canada/

https://www.securities-administrators.ca/industry_resources.aspx?id=1588

http://www.iiroc.ca/Pages/default.aspx

Sure, Canada gets cold in the winter, but Nova Scotia really feels the freeze. Temperatures have been known to plunge as low as -30 degrees Celsius in the winter, meaning that you’ll need more than just a thick jacket to get you through the long, dark winter nights.

The season can also be a thing of beauty for the region as well, with very lucky visitors even getting the chance to see the Atlantic Ocean freeze over once in a blue moon.

Apart from staring at ice sheets, there are plenty of things you can do to make winter in Nova Scotia just a little bit more bearable. Here are the top five tips for surviving winter in Nova Scotia.

Get Your Gear On

The first thing you need to know is that winter in Nova Scotia isn’t like winters in most other places. The snow isn’t necessarily too bad, but the ice, wind, and damp will seep into your bones and make you really feel the chill. Nonetheless, there’s no such thing as bad weather – only bad clothing.

Follow the Canadian authorities’ recommendations and invest in a heavy-duty Arctic coat, some top-tier snow boots, some waterproof gloves, and protection for your face and head, and your time exposed to the elements will quickly feel like a light breeze.

Your Home is Your Castle

If you’re the kind of person that hates to sit in the house, it’s time to fix your attitude. Like it or not, you’re going to be spending a lot more time indoors during the winter months, so it’s time to make your home as fun and hospitable as possible. Start by creating the perfect entertainment zone for you to enjoy with your friends.

This might take a little investment, say by installing a home theatre system or buying the right video games. It’s all about keeping things exciting, so try to kick things up a notch by doing something interactive and fast-paced. One way to do this is by getting into online casino games, such as slots, roulette, and blackjack. All you need is a decent Wi-Fi setup to be able to play literallythousandsd of games on your phone or laptop, meaning you won’t need to lave the house for anything. Bring the excitement of entertainment into your home, and the winter will fly by in an instant.

Source: Pixabay

Embrace the Indoors

You’ll have to leave the house at some point – just don’t do it for long. Take the time to research to cosiest, most hygge-inducing spots in Halifax to help you feel the homely winter vibes. There’s no shortage of inviting cafes, intimate restaurants, cramped bookshops, and of course, well-insulated bars to help you numb yourself to the outside world.

Also, make sure to embrace the best that the city has to offer during winter time by keeping track of the extensive list of winter events going on in town. There’s the Atlantic Fashion Week Show, the Goofy Moose Show (a real must-see), and the always-delightful Halifax Christmas Market, to name just a few.

Stay Positive

The hardest part of the winter is the effect it can have on your mood. This isn’t down to you as a person, it’s just simple biology. That’s why it’s important to take the right steps to keep your mood as elevated as possible during the dark winter months. Start simple by taking plenty of vitamin supplements, particularly vitamin D, which is proven to be a strong mood-booster when the sun is in short supply.

Also, think about investing in some helpful technology such as a SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) lamp to help give you the boost you need. Most importantly, remember to stay social. People are the best mood-booster, so keep on chatting to your friends and family, no matter how dark and cold it might get.

Enjoy Your Winter Wonderland

At the end of the day, Nova Scotia is a very special place. The winter might seem especially harsh if you’re not used to this sort of climate, but that’s not an inherently bad thing. Winter in Nova Scotia can look truly, unforgettably stunning.

Tourists come from across the world just to experience it, so you should as well. The snow, ice, and wildlife are like nothing else on this Earth, so make sure to get yourself out there and soak up one of the most beautiful regions on the planet. Don’t forget to take lots of pictures as well.

First of all, it is absolutely legal to go in for online gambling in Nova Scotia if you are 19 years old (or older). Residents of Nova Scotia, as those of Atlantic Provinces can freely access the websites controlled by the Atlantic Lottery Corp. But let’s be honest, official websites like that can’t offer a number of various activities for gamblers.

At the moment, the Atlantic Lottery Corp. gives players the possibility to participate in lottery sales online, PROLINE bets for sports events, Paysafecard Casinos and instant bingo plays. Players physically present in Newfoundland, Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick are eligible for ALC.

On the other hand, things are not so good: ALC does not present poker games, full-fledge sports bets and online casino slot games. But there is one thing the gamblers can be sure about: online gambling is NOT prohibited in Nova Scotia.
Additionally, the land-based Casino Nova Scotia presents slots, poker and table casino games and it is open for visitors on the state’s territory. This means, offline live gambling is allowed in the province, too.

Gamblers also doubt whether an internationally licensed and regulated online casino gambling is legal in the province of Nova Scotia according to reputable gambling authority redaktionstest.net. Or if to paraphrase that into a bothering question: are gambling activities provided by offshore operators illegal? Historically, the law does not prosecute something that is not claimed as illegal by court officials. Well, not prosecuted with a success at least. To find a proper answer to this question, we had to study Nova Scotia gaming legislation documents carefully.

Nova Scotia Gambling Regulations

Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division of Service Nova Scotia is the institution responsible for all activities connected with gambling under Part II of the Gaming Control Act.
The responsibilities and rules of this institution can be found on its webpage, where the most part of them as clarified. It is also need to be noted that the majority of their rules is governed by the Canada’s Criminal Code.

What’s the Conclusion?

To spare you the time of reading tons of law-oriented info, we’ll summarize it so you could understand only the essential facts. Laws regulating gambling activities in Nova Scotia can provide gamblers with some critical information. Some the information is implied; some was already stated outright. We do not have licensed lawyers or attorney officers working for us, so this text cannot be treated as the authorized expert advice for legal issues. But still, it is worth to mention that some of qualified Canadian specialists working with gambling laws came to the same conclusion. Here is what we want to let you know:

• Gambling activity is illegal only if it is not authorized. The most part of forms of gambling (whether they are on land and/or online) are authorized by the government of Nova Scotia province. Casinos, poker games, bingo, lotteries and certain kinds of sports bets are included there. This means, these activities are permitted.
• The offshore online casino (not present in on Canadian soil physically) stands beyond Nova Scotia or Canada government’s jurisdiction. In case if the online casino provider is properly regulated by offshore location authorities (Isle of Man, UK, Malta, Gibraltar, etc.) and taking into account the fact that those games are not prohibited in Nova Scotia, government has no reason to block such operators from interaction with players who are Canadian residents (or foreigners located in Canada physically at the certain moment of time).

So, you can enjoy gambling in any authorized online casino accessing it from Nova Scotia.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has had rotating strikes in place since the end of October. The strikes only last 24 hours and then workers resume activity.

This last one was quite extended though, which may be an indicator of how the negotiations are going.

“Based on the fact that negotiations have not been going well with Canada Post, the national union felt we needed to put more pressure on Canada Post to negotiate,” said Mike Keefe, a Canada Post veteran and first vice-president of Nova Local, which represents a vast majority of it’s members.

Strikes in other areas, like Moncton, Toronto and Vancouver, have also had rotating strikes last a number of days.

Not sure when delivery service will be back

Canada Post is working hard to come to a resolution and has  made a new limited-time offer to employees to end the strikes as of Wednesday.

The Canadian Press reported the Crown corporation’s four-year offer includes an annual two per cent wage hike, plus a signing bonus of up to $1,000 per employee. Unionized workers have until Saturday to accept the deal.

“The strike action is still rotating strikes so it is possible we could be back on the job [Thursday], but we wanted to let everybody know that until further notice there would no mail processed and no mail delivered in HRM,” Keefe said.

Canada Post pushed to negotiate

Keefe, who has worked for Canada Post for over 30 years, said the union wants supporters of postal workers to contact the prime minister and their member of Parliament to pressure the Crown corporation to negotiate.

“The union feels that the only action for the government left to take is to introduce back-to-work legislation and that sort of rewards Canada Post for not bargaining seriously for the last 12 months,” said Keefe.

The major issue for unionized workers, Keefe said, has to do with health, safety, and wage and benefit equality.

Local Halifax support high

Keefe said workers in Halifax have been getting a lot of support from the public, with people honking their horns and bringing food and coffee.

“It used to be when you’d go on the picket line and somebody blew the horn, usually they were giving you the one-fingered salute while they were doing it,” Keefe said.

“And this time it’s much more thumbs up, it’s much more positive. And that’s why morale is pretty good on the picket line.”

The “Voter Control of Gambling Amendment”, as it is titled, is supported by Disney and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. These companies, along with those fighting the amendment are expected to spend millions of dollars trying to sway the movement in their direction. “We didn’t spend what it took to make it to the ballot to leave things to chance. I would suspect that it’s a significant eight-figure campaign that we will wage to support it, and if anyone wanted to come after it, I would suspect the like,” – commented John Sowinski, chairman of the Voters in Charge.

Some of the representatives from the gambling industry have criticized the amendment and emphasized its negative effects on the business activity. Izzy Havenick, an owner of dog tracks in Miami and Naples commented: “I think it will have a huge impact on our industry, because as opposed to the Legislature regulating us, we’ll need 60 percent of the residents of Florida to regulate us in the future. And, as the most regulated business in the state, that just makes anything we want to do to grow our business in the future more difficult.”

Nick Iarossi, who is a lobbyist representing gambling companies also outlined the negative consequences of the amendment, saying: “The fear that they all have is that, if this No Casinos amendment passes in November, we will never have that opportunity without a statewide approval to add new product, whether it be slots or otherwise. And to try to get that approval statewide when you have Disney and the Seminole Tribe with their monopoly putting money in against any type of expansion you place on the ballot, it’s going to be impossible to get those votes with the 60 percent threshold.”

A new committee forms that will counter the gambling control amendment

A new political committee, which will be called “Vote NO on 3” has been formed with the purpose to fight the new amendment. It will be chaired by Izzy Havenick mentioned above. “Look, we have a very big target on our back. The pari-mutuels and the ancillary businesses that work with us provide a lot of jobs and tax revenue to the state and to local communities. We have to defend ourselves,” – she commented in an interview.

Sources:

http://nyecasino.ninja/casino-news/hva-er-gca-og-hvordan-vil-det-fungere-i-florida/

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/268717-political-committee-gambling-measure

Just as Bitcoin aims to replace the current financial system, online casinos offer a more convenient gaming experience that could take over. So, where has this left the land-based casinos of Canada following the uprising of online casinos?

Struggles of land-based casinos

Source: Pixabay

Online casinos have slowly but surely become popular gaming websites. Some struggled in the early years of the internet due to worries of them being fake websites, but thanks to online security measures enforced by internet browsers and nations, online casinos have become a trusted source of play.

The online casino revolution came around in the 2010s, as more people had enhanced access to the internet and were far more trusting of using their money online.

This shook the land-based casino industry in Canada, with Loto-Quebec’s Montreal casino falling by 10.2 percent in revenue during Q2 of 2012. Caesars Windsor had similar issues, needing to release a statement saying that the corporation would remain committed to the casino despite sliding revenues.

The rise of online casinos

Source: Pixabay

Once safe methods of using money online came into place, it was only a matter of time before online casinos boomed. People enjoy playing casino games and gambling and have done throughout history. So, having those games just a click away at online casinos was always going to be popular.

One of the biggest reasons behind the ever-increasing popularity of these sites is their ability to adapt and update with ease. The online casinos started with standard flash versions of games like roulette and blackjack, but then flexed their creativity with slot games, creating huge-money progressive jackpot games like Age of the Gods and games with a pop-culture theme, such as The Dark Knight Rises.

Are they co-existing in Canada?

Source: Pixabay

Indulging in online casino games is a much-loved pastime in Canada. It helps online casinos have a huge selection of popular and intriguing games, as well as the country being so well connected to the internet. But, despite what seemed to be an imminent demise of land-based casinos, they seem to be thriving.

Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. issue shares of casino revenues to the City of Niagara Falls as casino-hosting revenue, which has accounted for a massive $124.7 million since 1996. Better still, they appear to be going strong as $7.4 million of that came following Q1 of 2018.

Loto-Quebec seems to have made a steady comeback as well, boasting increased revenues from 2016 at casinos and gaming establishments, yielding a 5.3 percent increase across both revenue streams. Furthermore, Gateway Entertainment and Casinos has recently seen the casinos in the Western Fair District as a viable business opportunity as they’ve completed the purchase of three casinos and six slots operations.

Even though online casinos are still immensely popular in Canada, many land-based casinos have survived the initial boom and are seeing their revenues rise once again. It seems as though the two forms of casino gaming can co-exist in Canada.