Fighting fires
Boreal climate disaster reaches Boston, Air Canada enters the chat, AI is stealing your secrets, people hate offices, GOOD NEWS, Cats on stairs, advertising's new age
Hi there!
We’re back after the long weekend. We hope you had a good one. Sadly our return has coincided with smoke in the air and the news of…uncontrolled wild fires.
At the time of writing there are active fires across BC, Alberta and Nova Scotia. This is very early in the season for anyone to be thinking about wildfires, but years of mild winters, a lack of snow cover and frost - and low seasonal precipitation - has really messed up the Boreal climate - seemingly for good. Last years fires and floods in BC set a new trend for the 50th parallel, and this year is shaping up to break more unfortunate records.
Nova Scotia is a particular focus right now because…this stuff just doesn’t really happen much in the maritimes. It happens in the prairies. It happens in the rangelands. It’s horrific when it happens, but it is an essential part of their ecology. But a maritime climate is typically just too humid to cause anything but more minor outbreaks during isolated high-season dry periods. That these fires are appearing at the size they are in May is a reason to be very concerned. The Tantallon fire is currently raging over 788 hectares within 20km of downtown Halifax and has entered its third day. Over 200 structures have been destroyed including entire subdivisions, and over 16,000 residents are now evacuated or, effectively, homeless. With an on-going housing crisis in Halifax, there aren’t many places for these residents to go. In Shelburne County, the Barrington Lake fire is currently active over 10,000 hectares with 450 homes evacuated and 1,600 people displaced. The smoke plume is now so vast that it is affecting the air quality in Boston, MA. That Shelburne County is more rural and less densely populated is really the only good news to report here.
The maritime fires are more worrying because of their sheer aggression. This is a micro-climate that is typically wet during spring, which has caused fires that ‘dirty burn’ - fires that don’t eat everything in their path, but return over previously effective areas where fuel persists, unburnt, due to now-evaporated moisture. It makes them volatile, uncontainable and liable to ‘jump’ as the wind changes. It also makes them near impossible - and very dangerous - to fight. And if you know how much smoke a pile of wet leaves emits, you’ll understand the terrible air conditions a ‘dirty burn’ can cause.
It’s obvious what the causes of these fires are, and we’re not talking about a BBQ gone wrong or a camping fire being badly maintained. It’s highlighting also how low density sub-divisions and provincial approaches to housing are not the cause - but how they do inflame the problem. It’s big C climate, sure, but it’s also wrapped up in provincial politics, zoning controls, property development and forestry management.
Post-Fiona, the maritimes changed forever. With Tantallon - it has changed again.
If you’re a huumans-supported business who is affected by these fires, speak to your huumans team and we can help begin the messy process of insurance claims - even if it means just starting to compile documents and providing advice regarding things like employee payroll. We have extensive experience of disaster relief support, which we sharpened during the post-Fiona period.
As of now there isn’t any headline Provincial of Federal business funding for disaster relief, and given the timeframes in which these fires hit - that’s to be expected. But there will be a response, and we can help you navigate it when it eventually arrives.
BTW - did you know you can reply to this email? We always read the responses and welcome feedback. Let us know what you like, what you don’t and what you’d like to see more of in the future!
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Top story this week☝️
Mini (last) time
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News 🗞️
MORE airline drama
Westjet went on strike, but with Air Canada still in the skies, at least people could get where they were going. Admittedly with some pain and frustration and 24hrs late, but there was still, in theory, a flight to catch. The reason for this? Air Canada pilots were locked into a decade-long contract framework that prevented ‘discussions’. Well, that framework expires this summer, and Air Canada pilots are excited to ‘chat’. Link
AI theft afoot
This is a tricky topic, and it’s one we’ll probably deep-dive on in the coming weeks. AI’s like ChatGPT use information - from closed networks and (increasingly) online resources, to power their Chat interfaces. But what if the knowledge they’re using isn’t under consent? What if your internal business knowledge is being shown to competitors? It’s a very nuanced space which involves constantly shifting privacy law that’s now scrabbling to keep up with the current break-neck acceleration in technology advancement. Link
And finally…
People hate working in offices. Link
Finally - a good cat tweet. Link
Business advertising in the age of AI. Link
The Data Room 🤖
The Data Room has some good news this week - which is just as well because from our office right now all we can see (and smell) is wood smoke. Which is making things a bit apocalyptic to say the least.
Yes! Actual good news!
It seems like it’s not too often that we get to write about things getting cheaper for SMB owners, but today is one of those days! Let us rejoice!
In a recent agreement with Visa and Mastercard, the government has finally haggled its way to lower interchange fees. The cost of the convenience of credit cards is high, credit card companies take a percentage off of every transaction and the new adjustments are expected to save SMB owners about $1 billion over the next five years. Current interchange rates can be as much as 3% per transaction, with the average sitting at 1.4%. The new rate will rest at .95%.
Moreover, the deal also includes free access to cyber crime and fraud resources that will also be handled by the credit card companies with the intention to make SMB owners’ lives a little easier and less scammy.
It’s not just interchange rates that are getting called in for an awkward sit-down - Canadians are taking on record amounts of credit card debt and it’s looking like time for an intervention. Higher-than-average credit bills have become a crutch for 40% of Canadian wealth-holders who are dealing with inflation. Credit card related debt has surged to around $93 billion - a 14% increase since 2021 - and 20% of lowest income earners have resorted to borrowing from family and friends to get around that dreaded APR.
The new interchange rates kick in during fall 2024, and to be eligible a business must do under $300,000 annual sales with Visa, and $175,000 for Mastercard.
Market at-a-glance 📈
BOC Indicators (Link):
BOC Prime Rate: 6.70%
BOC Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
BOC CPI Inflation Rate: 5.2%
BOC $USD Exchange Rate (Link):
Low: 1.3504 CAD [0.7405 USD]
Average: 1.3586 CAD [0.7361 USD]
High: 1.3628 CAD [0.7338 USD]
Best GIC Rates (Link):
1-year GIC: 5.15%
3-year GIC: 4.80%
5-year GIC: 4.70%
Best 5Y Mortgage Rates (Link):
Variable: 5.40%
Fixed: 4.89%
Prime Rates (Link):
TD Bank: 6.70%
BMO: 6.70%
RBC: 6.70%
Scotiabank: 6.70%
CIBC: 6.70%
National Bank: 6.70%
CRA Canadian Pension Plan Rate: 5.95%
CRA Employment Insurance Rate: 1.63%
CRA Minimum Wage per Province: Link