CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques

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CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
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                          Consumer Association of Saskatchewan Inc. ISSN 1184-0005   Volume 37 Issue 1      Spring 2021

       CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
                Some of That Money Might be Yours
The National Post has reported                                                   Revenue, explained, “As govern-
that Canadian Revenue Agency                                                     ment cheques never expire, the
(CRA) is sitting on more than $1                                                 CRA cannot void the original
billion in uncashed cheques                                                      cheque and reissue a new one unless
they’ve issued over the past 20                                                  requested by the taxpayer.”
years. And every day, half a mil-                                                   Some people believe that if you
lion dollars more is added to their                                              don’t cash the cheques within a cer-
pile of nearly eight million                                                     tain length of time, they’ll be stale-
cheques waiting to cashed.                                                       dated. There’s also a belief that its
    CRA is urging people to claim                                                basically just money lost and will be
their money by using the “Uncashed Cheques” fea-            reabsorbed by the Revenue Agency. That is not so.
ture recently launched on its website. Go to their site     CRA says the cheques never expire, they just go back
and look for “My Account” service. Once logged in,          into the government’s general coffers until a taxpayer
click on the “Uncashed Cheques” link at the bottom          one day cashes the cheque.
of the “Related Services” column on the “Overview”              CRA strongly suggests signing up for direct depos-
page. Any unpaid amounts that have sat dormant for          it, as it’s the best way to ensure cheques don’t go un-
over six months will be listed, as well as the neces-       cashed.
sary forms to claim your money.                                 Since the Uncashed Cheques feature is now a per-
    A question that arises frequently is if the CRA is      manent fixture on the CRA website, you can log in
so intent on getting the unclaimed money out, why           anytime. Go to: canada.ca/en/revenue-agency.html
don’t they just automatically send taxpayers a new          to see if you have money waiting for you. You just
cheque? Jeremy Bellefeuille, spokesman for National         might be pleasantly surprised.

              Be Safe. Install a Carbon Monoxide Detector
                                         minutes. A carbon monoxide             homes’ high efficiency intakes and
                                         detector alerts homeowners of a        exhausts.
                                         leak so they can escape a poten-           Install alarms on every level of
                                         tially life-threatening situation.     your house so everyone can be
                                             The signs of carbon monoxide       alerted. Unlike smoke, which rises,
                                         poisoning are headaches, nausea,       carbon monoxide mixes with the
                                         vomiting, dizziness, confusion,        air around it so they can be in-
                                         drowsiness, and shortness of           stalled at any height or location.
                                         breath. In the event of a leak, it’s       Four quick beeps, followed by a
                                         critical to get fresh air as soon as   pause, means there’s carbon mon-
                                         possible. Every second counts.         oxide in the air and you need to
                                             During and after a snowstorm,      seek fresh air immediately and call
Known as the “silent killer,” car-      check to make sure the dryer, fur-      911.
bon monoxide (CO) is an odour-          nace, and stove vents aren't            Be safe. Install a Carbon Monoxide
less, colourless, toxic gas, and poi-   clogged with snow ~ and make            Detector.
soning from it can happen in just       sure to clear ice off your newer              (source: firstalert.com; lowes.ca)
CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
2 SaskWatch

  SaskWatch Spring 2021                                    Gym Memberships
      Published quarterly by:
Consumer Association of Saskatchewan

Writer / Editor / Production / Design:
       Brenda Goldsworthy
           Contributors:
   Ruth Robinson, Marc Rousseau
                                         The province’s Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) has
 Consumer Association of                 tips for people wondering about gym memberships. According to FCAA
Saskatchewan Inc. (CASK)                 “some consumers may not ask the right questions or fully read the con-
     #306 - 220 3rd Avenue South         tract before signing up for a membership and encounter problems later
      Saskatoon, Sask. S7K 1M1           on regarding cancellation rights, membership packages, and extra pro-
           Ph: 306.242-4909
     Email: office.cask@sasktel.net      grams and services included in a membership.”
                                         They suggest you consider some tips before signing a contract:
         Office Manager:
                                         • Make sure you’ve read the entire contract and understand the terms
         Marc Rousseau                     and conditions. By law, your contract must not exceed two years.
 Office Hours: Mon to Wed, noon-4pm      • Find out the total cost of your membership, including the regular fees
                                           for programs and services.
 CASK Board of Directors                 • Know that you have the right to cancel your contract within seven
             2020-2021                     business days of receiving a written copy.
     President: Ruth Robinson            • You may also be able to cancel: if you move more than 30 km away
   Vice-President: Mary Glauser            from your gym or one of its other locations; if you experience materi-
 Secretary/Treasurer: Kathy Brower         al physical, medical, or mental changes, supported by your medical
         Members at Large:                 practitioner that would make gym participation unreasonable; if there
           Betty Burwell                   are material changes in the services being provided; if the facility
            Laurie Shaw                    moves more than 10 km from its former location.
           Patricia Lewis                If you run into problems, or require more information, you can contact
                                         FCAA, Consumer Protection Division. Phone: 306.787-5550. Toll free:
     Check us out on Facebook:           877.880-5550. Email: consumerprotection@gov.sk.ca. You can also get
facebook.com/ConsumerSaskatchewan        in touch with us, Consumer Association of Saskatchewan, and we’ll be
      Twitter: @ConsumerSK               glad to help. Phone: 306.242-4909. Email: office.cask@sasktel.net.
  SaskWatch is available online:
                                                         Think. Shop. Buy Local
  www.consumersask .com
                                         Supporting local businesses, farms, and crafts people creates more eco-
In This Issue:                           nomic and food security in your community. For every dollar spent at a
$1 Billion Uncashed Cheques    1         local small business, 67 cents is reinvested in your local community and
Get CO Detector                1         another 50 cents of additional activity gets shared within your commu-
Gym Memberships                2         nity.
Think. Shop. Buy Local         2             Finding out where your local services, food businesses and farmers’
Programs for Seniors           3         markets are located is only a click away online. As well as huge bene-
Bees Most Important            3         fits to your community, buying local means fresher food, less packag-
Bits & Pieces                 4/5        ing, and big energy savings, as the products haven’t been shipped thou-
Printer Ink                    6         sands of miles. It’s also very satisfying to be able to speak directly to
Don’t Put Batteries in Garbage 7         the business, farmer or craftsperson who created the products.
Electronic Waste               7             Shoplocalcanada.ca and shoplocalsask.ca are two sites you can
Advisories, Warnings, Recalls 8          check out. If you go online, you’ll discover more sites, some specific to
Be Prepared for Power Outages 8          your city or town.
CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
SaskWatch 3

                      Programs and Services for Seniors
                                                           •   Health: including covid information, physical activi-
                                                               ty, nutrition, food safety, mental wellness, dementia,
                                                               elder abuse.
                                                           •   Safe at Home: including preventing falls, home
                                                               safety, age-friendly communities.
                                                           •   Managing Your Money: including budgeting, annui-
                                                               ties, pension splitting, disability tax credit, powers
                                                               of attorney, wills, funerals, financial abuse.
                                                           •   Services for Veterans.
                                                           •   Fraud Prevention: including how to avoid online
                                                               scams, reporting fraud, protecting financial infor-
                                                               mation, what to do if you’re a target of fraud.
The Government of Canada offers a variety of pro-
                                                           •   Funding Programs.
grams and services to help ensure your later years are
safe, supported and secure. You can learn about:           To learn details about what is available, check out
• Canada Pension Plan: including when to start and         their website at: canada.ca/seniors or call 1.800-622-
  how it can work better for you.                          6232. You can also go to their website and sign up to
• Guaranteed Income Supplement.                            get emails from the Minister of Seniors outlining the
• Old Age Security.                                        latest updates on programs and services available for
• Caregiving Benefits.                                     seniors.

           Bees Declared Most Important Species On Earth
The Earthwatch Institute, at a re-     lation rely on bees for pollination.
cent meeting of the Royal Geo-         Without them, these plants would
graphical Society of London, de-       cease to exist and with it all ani-
clared bees the most important liv-    mals that eat those plants. This can
ing species on this planet. Bees re-   have a cascading effect that would
ceived this title because 70% of the   ripple catastrophically up the food
world’s agriculture depends exclu-     chain.
sively on bees.                            There has been a dramatic de-
    Some 250,000 species of flow-      cline in the bee population in the
ering plants depend on bees for        last few years and, according to
pollination. Many of these are cru-    wildlife scientists and experts, they
cial to world agriculture. In addi-    are on the endangered species list.
tion, many medicines, both con-        Bees are in danger and their spe-
ventional and alternative remedies,    cies is in decline because of pesti-
come from flowering plants. And        cide use, loss of green spaces that
it's not just the human race that      provide a flower-rich habitat, mon-
would suffer. Birds and small          oculture farming & climate change.
mammals that feed off berries and          Many NGOs and activist groups
seeds also rely on bee pollination.    are calling for reform in the hope
They would die of hunger and in        of stopping the rapid decline in bee
turn their predators – the omni-       populations. By making changes in         In Albert Einstein's words ~ “If
vores or carnivores – would also       how humanity grows its food and       the bees disappear, humans would
starve.                                how it treats Mother Earth, it will   have only four years to live.”
    70 of the top 100 crop species     become possible to also turn the       (boredpanda.com; intelligentliving.com;
that feed much of the human popu-      tide on the decline of bee numbers.     theguardian.com; amusingplanet.com)
CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
4 SaskWatch

                                                                  Bits & Pieces              BITS & P
A Doppelgänger is an unrelated look-alike, or               Saskatoon Man’s Photo on Stamp.
a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology,     Paul Loewen, a research engineer at the U of S, has
a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or para-     had his photograph of a Peary caribou chosen to be
normal phenomenon and usually seen as a harbinger           part of the Snow Mammals Stamp Collection with
of bad luck. Other traditions and stories equate a dop-     Canada Post. The photo was taken in Sept. 2006 when
pelgänger with an evil twin. (Wikipedia)                    Paul was working at a weather and research station in
                                                            the Canadian High Arctic. He spotted the caribou
Grandfathered In.                                           when he was out walking and immediately started tak-
A grandfather clause (grandfather policy or grandfa-        ing photos. He said, “it was a pretty magical experi-
thering) is a provision in which an old rule continues      ence!” When the stamps are placed under a black
to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule      light, the footprint of the animal shows up at the bot-
will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from the       tom left of the stamp - a special touch that stamp col-
new rule are said to have grandfather rights or to have     lectors might appreciate.This collection is available
been grandfathered in.                                      for purchase in all Canada Post locations. Of the three
                                                            million stamps being made, Loewen’s image of the
A Goat Rodeo is a slang term for something                  Peary caribou will be featured on 600,000 across the
going totally, unbelievably, disastrously wrong, and        country. (saskatoon.ctvnews.ca)
there’s nothing left to do but to sit back and watch the
train wreck. In other words, a goat rodeo is a chaotic      Black Lives Matter Movement
situation, fiasco, or, more vulgarly, a shitshow. And       Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.
yes, there are also literal goat rodeos.                   Black Lives Matter has been nominated for the 2021
(dictionary.com/e/slang/)                                  Nobel Peace Prize. Norwegian MP, Petter Eide, nomi-
                                                           nated the global movement for their struggle against
Snow Can Disappear Before Melting racism and racially motivated violence. “Black Lives
Snow can actually just disappear. It’s one of those sol- Matter has become a very important worldwide move-
ids that can turn directly into a vapour. Typically,       ment to fight racial injustice. Demands for systemic
when it’s really cold, the relative humidity of the air is change have spread around the world, forcing other
very low and some of the snow and ice will actually        countries to grapple with racism within their own so-
evaporate. This process is called sublimation which is cieties," he said. The winner will be chosen in Octo-
the transition of a substance which goes directly from ber with the award ceremony scheduled for December
a solid state into a vapour without ever going through 10th of this year.
the intermediate liquid stage.
                                                            Amazon Plastic.
Earth Hour. March 27, 2021.                                 Greenpeace says, “It's time for Amazon to take re-
Started by WWF, and partners, as a symbolic lights-         sponsibility and truly tackle their plastic addiction.”
out event in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour is now one          According to Oceana's report, Amazon generated
of the world's largest grassroots movements for the         about 465 million pounds of plastic packaging in 2019
environment. Held every year on the last Saturday of        alone. With the covid-crisis, online shopping has been
March, Earth Hour engages millions of people in             skyrocketing - and so too is Amazon's already out-of-
more than 180 countries and territories, switching off      control plastic pollution problem. The International
their lights to show support for our planet. But Earth      Solid Waste Association estimates our reliance on sin-
Hour goes far beyond the symbolic action of switch-         gle-use plastic has increased by over 300% during the
ing off. It is a symbol of unity. It is a symbol of hope.   pandemic. Greenpeace say “As one of the largest e-
It is a symbol of power in collective action for nature.    commerce players in the world, tell Amazon to kick
Join million of people and switch off your lights for       their plastic addiction and truly tackle the waste crisis.
an hour on Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 pm local time.        Go to: https://act.gp/3izXf6n.
CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
SaskWatch 5

PIECES                         Bits & Pieces
  Oat Milk To Be Made in Sask.
  Canadians are consuming about 20% less dairy milk               … Did You Know …
  than they were a decade ago and turning to non-                             … about food ...
  dairy alternatives like soy, almond, coconut and rice
                                                           •   Commercial sliced bread was first produced in
  milk. The latest non-dairy product comes from one
                                                               Missouri in 1928.
  of Canada's most underrated crops ~ oats. In the last
                                                           •   Black pepper is the most popular spice in the
  year alone, sales of oat milk increased more than
                                                               world.
  250% with Vancouver’s Earth's Own making about
                                                           •   A tomato is a berry and the biggest berry to ever
  99% of the oat milk sold in Canada. Wayne Goran-
                                                               be called a vegetable.
  son, CEO of Regina's Mera Food Group, says by
                                                           •   Peanuts aren’t nuts - they’re legumes.
  this summer their oat milk will be on the shelves of
                                                           •   Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of getting peanut
  Federated Co-op stores around the province, and be-
                                                               butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
  yond. “I'll be very pleased to see a product that's
                                                           •   Fortune cookies aren’t Chinese. They were in-
  grown in Saskatchewan, processed in Saskatchewan,
                                                               vented in the early 1900s in San Francisco.
  and packaged in Saskatchewan on the shelves”, he
                                                           •   Spam was invented in 1937 in Minnesota where
  said. It’s also good for the environment. It takes 628
                                                               they even have a Spam Museum.
  litres of water to create one litre of cow's milk. Al-
                                                           •   French fries originated in Belgium, not France.
  mond milk takes about half that, while one litre of
                                                               They’re only called French fries because they are
  oat milk requires only 48 litres of water.
  (cbc.ca; world-today-news.com)                               French cut.
                                                           •   China Lily Soy Sauce is made in Toronto.
                                                           •   Ranch dressing is dyed with titanium dioxide to
  Wildlife Dying Due to Road Salt.
                                                               make it look whiter. It’s the same ingredient used
  Road salt might be great for slippery sidewalks,
                                                               in sunscreen and paint for colouring.
  parking lots and roads, but it also threatens fresh-
                                                           •   Farmed salmon is dyed pink. Wild salmon is nat-
  water ecosystems making them toxic for native spe-
                                                               urally pink because of the shrimp they eat. Farm-
  cies - and this salt doesn’t melt away with the snow.
                                                               raised salmon have a different diet and end up
  It accumulates in creeks, rivers and other water sys-
                                                               being white so are fed specific pigments to get
  tems. In fact, some urban streams connected to the
                                                               them the same hue as wild salmon.
  Great Lakes are reaching ocean-like salt levels in the
                                                           •   Cheese is the most stolen food in the world.
  winter, creating inhospitable ecosystems for native
                                                               About 4% of all cheese ends up being stolen.
  species like reptiles, mussels, fish and amphibians
                                                               There’s even a black market for cheese.
  that need fresh water to survive. We must recognize
                                                           •   Turkey consumes the most tea per person. They
  the damage it does to freshwater wildlife and take
                                                               drink almost seven pounds of tea every year.
  steps to stop the harm. World Wildlife Fund-Canada
                                                           •   Netherlands people drink the most coffee. Each
  is working with various organizations to achieve a
                                                               person drinks about 2.5 cups every day.
  measurable reduction in road salt use to improve the
                                                           •   India has the lowest meat consumption in the
  health of our freshwater ecosystems. For details
                                                               world. Per capita, Indians only consume about
  about what they’re doing, check out:
                                                               seven pounds of meat, per person, per year.
  ca/stories/wildlife-dying-due-road-salt-must-stop
                                                           •   Australians eat the most meat. Coming in at a
                                                               whopping 200 pounds per person every year,
  Ancestral Mathematics.                                       Australians take first place, but are closely fol-
  If you go back just six hundred years in your family         lowed by Americans.
  tree - about twenty generations - and if each of your    •   The last horse-drawn milk wagon in Saskatoon
  forerunners produced two offspring with a spouse,            was in 1962.
  the total number of your direct ancestors in those six   •   The standard dinner plate today is 36% bigger
  hundred years would total over a million people.             than it was 50 years ago.
CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
6 SaskWatch

     Printer Ink ~ One of the Most Expensive Liquids on Earth
by Marc Rousseau                                                                         For one, the chip will alert
It may not seem too impos-                                                               the printer when even one of
ing, but printer ink is one of                                                           the colours is reported as
the most expensive liquids                                                               low, causing the entire print-
on the planet. Estimated to                                                              er to stop printing anything,
be at least $1500 per litre,                                                             despite not needing the low
this unassuming office sup-                                                              colour (for example: it
ply, many of us use daily,                                                               won’t print a black and
rings in at a higher cost than                                                           white document when it re-
even human blood. So, how                                                                ports to be out of cyan). In
could this be possible? It all                                                           addition, many printers will
has to do with the tight con-                                                            report false low ink alerts.
trol printer manufacturers have over the pricing of the      The device will say it has run put of ink when, in fact,
industry.                                                    there may still be plenty left. Additionally, the chips
    The most common tactic of printer manufacturers          can be designed to prevent users from refilling the ink
is to sell the printer at a loss, and then lock the cus-     themselves or from using third-party cartridges. And
tomer into needing to buy ink refills, specifically for      to take the run-around even further, some printers are
that printer model, at an enormous markup. This is           designed, purposefully, to mix a small amount of cyan
dubious, as the ink itself is a consumable and will          ink into black and white prints, to make any printing
constantly need to be replenished. For a refill set of       impossible with only the black ink.
ink, typically a black ink as well as a tri-colour ink set       So what can be done as a consumer who wants fair
of magenta, yellow and cyan, a customer can expect           use of their printer? An easy work-around for a sus-
to pay upwards of $60.00                                     pected false low-ink alert can be to simply reset the
    What may not be immediately apparent, though, is         printer, uninstall and reinstall the cartridge itself, and
that these units cost companies mere pennies to pro-         try again to see if it detects the actual ink amount.
duce. Printer companies will frequently claim the ex-        This process may need to be taken even as far as unin-
treme price of the ink is due to updates in printer ink      stalling and reinstalling a new driver on the computer
technology, but this is where things get even stickier.      the printer is operating with. Additionally, consumers
    One of these claimed upgrades in ink technology is       may find they get better mileage out of a laser printer,
the little chip on each ink cartridge. This chip allows      though these models have a larger upfront cost as well
the ink and the printer to communicate, and is said to       as toner cost.
monitor ink levels and quality to provide maximum
                                                             Check out the hacks below. Premiumtoners.com has
efficiency. But, it can be argued, the chip is mostly
                                                             some tips they say might extend the life of your ink.
designed to make consumers spend more money.

                 Hacks That Might Extend the Life of Your Ink
Adjust Your Printer Settings to “draft mode” if you're       Turn Printer Off When Not Using as leaving it on
just printing for your own use.                              might cause the printhead to clog. There’s also a
If You Get a Low Ink Warning chances are there’s             chance the heat from the machine will dry out the ink.
still quite a bit left. Some printers won’t let you print    Shake the Ink Cartridge. If your prints look faded, it
anything unless you change the cartridge. Try to by-         doesn’t mean your cartridges are empty. Some ink
pass this by covering the chip sensor with some tape!        might just be clogging the nozzle. Gently shake the
                                                             cartridge and insert it back into the printer. With a bit
Cleaning Your Printer Nozzle will help extend the
                                                             of luck, it’ll start printing like normal again.
life of your ink.
                                                             Opt for"Printer-Friendly"Pages whenever you’re
Use Print Preview Function which allows you to see           printing from a website, as they’re optimized so that
the page before you print it.                                you won’t use as much ink per page.
                                                                              (from: premiumtones.com)
CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
SaskWatch 7

                      Don’t Throw Batteries in Garbage
Of all the products on earth, batteries are among those    9,000 collection locations across Canada including
that take the longest to decompose, right up there         retail and business organizations, government, and
with plastic bags and styrofoam. When old batteries        municipal depots. Keep these hazardous items out of
get thrown out, they end up in landfill, and they con-     landfill and blue bins to protect the environment and
tain materials that are harmful to nature, wildlife and    so they can be reclaimed to manufacture new prod-
humans. As batteries corrode, chemicals leach into         ucts like bicycles, golf clubs, and construction materi-
the soil and water or are released into the air, nega-     als. Find a drop-off location at: call2recycle.ca/
tively affecting ecosystems and the living beings that
rely on them. The environmental impact is just one
reason they should be recycled. Another is that used
batteries present a fire hazard.
   Call2Recycle is committed to protecting and pre-
serving the environment by keeping batteries out of
landfill and, since launching in Canada in 1997, has
safely and responsibly collected and recycled 22 mil-
lion kilograms of batteries. Call2Recycle accepts
household batteries through its network of more than

                    Electronic Waste
The world dumped a record 53.6                                                 ic waste. The majority of these are
million tonnes of electronic waste                                             operated by Electronic Products
(e-waste) last year, according to                                              Recycling Association (EPRA).
The Global E-waste Monitor 2020                                                Once collected, the electronics are
report. Statistics Canada revealed                                             sent to approved recyclers. Materi-
that electronic waste in Canada has                                            als such as glass, plastic, and heavy
nearly tripled in four years.                                                  metals are recovered and put back
  The Saskatchewan Waste Reduc-                                                into the manufacturing stream to
tion Council (SWRC) has spent                                                  make new products while sub-
over three decades helping the peo-                                            stances of concern such as mercury
ple of Saskatchewan reduce waste.                                              and lead are dealt with in an envi-
Their mantra is Reduce. Reuse.                                                 ronmentally-safe manner.
Recycle. But they say Reuse
should always be considered be-                                                The EPRA/Recycle My Electronics
fore Recycle ~ so if your equip-         of software and discontinuing sup-    program has made it even easier
ment still works, consider donating      port for older models.                through its special collection
it to a school or non-profit organi-        In addition to being one of the    events and network of over 2,500
zation.                                  fastest growing waste streams, e-     drop-off locations throughout the
    Computers, hard drives, tablets,     waste contains toxic ingredients      country. Go to: recyclemyelectron-
telephones, toys, cameras, televi-       including flame retardants, lead,     ics.ca for full details.
sions, videos, stereos, radios, print-   mercury, nickel, cadmium, and            You can also go to SWRC’s
ers, fax machines, scanners, com-        other heavy metals, and should be     website: saskwastereduction.ca,
puters games, etc etc etc ~ are all      kept out of landfills and the envi-   and click on their recycling data-
contributing to e-waste. Mean-           ronment. They also contain valua-     base, to get detailed information
while, the life span of devices is       ble metals that can be harvested to   about how and where you can re-
getting shorter as companies inten-      make new products.                    cycle almost anything.
tionally plan the obsolescence of           In Canada, nearly all provinces           (recyclemyelectronics.ca;
their goods by updating the design       have programs to recycle electron-            saskwastereduction.ca)
CRA Has One Billion Dollars in Uncashed Cheques
8 SaskWatch
  If a Service Dog Approaches You                              Advisories, Warnings & Recalls
To see a dog in a harness, without its owner nearby,        Health Canada helps protect the public from potential
is unusual. Guide Dogs of America says if a service         health hazards by posting timely information on is-
dog, without a person, approaches you, it means the         sues that concern the health of Canadians. They post
person is down and in need of help. They say don’t          safety alerts, public health advisories, press releases
get scared, don’t get annoyed, follow the dog, as it        and other notices.
could be a sign of a very serious situation. The dog           For a listing of all recalls and detailed information,
will lead you to its owner. You can then identify the       go to: www.healthcanada.gc.ca/cps-recalls. This
situation, and, if necessary, call 911. The Today           website gives you: recall date, product name, full
Show interviewed a dog trainer who said if a service        product description, hazard identified, corrective ac-
dog nudges you with its nose or barks at you with no        tion, number sold, time period sold, importer, and
owner in sight, it’s a clue that the dog is seeking help.   images of the recalled products. Their website lists
“Follow the dog - you might just save someone’s             thousands of alerts and recalls going all the way back
life.” (thesun.co.uk)                                       to 1975 and also has information on what to do if you
                                                            have concerns about a product and what to do if a
                                                            product has been recalled.
                                                               Their Recalls and Safety Alerts Database provides
                                                            easy access to a comprehensive list of recalls, adviso-
                                                            ries, and safety alerts. It includes recalls from Health
                                                            Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and
                                                            Transport Canada. More information is available at:
                                                            info@hc-sc.gc.ca or phone: 613.957-2991.

                        Power Outages ~ Get/Be Prepared
If your power goes out, you’ll want to prepare your         The Get Prepared website says people should be pre-
house for when the power comes back on. Unplug              pared to cope on their own during a power outage for
everything you can. Turn off all tools, appliances and      at least 72 hours and can greatly lessen the impact by
electronic equipment, and turn the thermostat down to       taking the time to prepare in advance. They have
minimum, to prevent damage by a sudden surge when           plenty of information on how to get prepared and pro-
power is restored. Turn off all lights, except one in-      vide details on "What To Do Before, During & After A
side and one outside, so that both you and the hydro        Power Outage. Check them out at:
crews outside know that power has been restored. Al-                        www.getprepared.gc.ca/
so, power can be restored more easily when there’s
not a heavy load on the electrical system.
    The Government of Canada’s Get Prepared web-
site says most power outages will be over almost as
soon as they begin, but some can last much longer -
days or even weeks. Power outages are often caused
by freezing rain, sleet storms and/or high winds which
damage power lines and equipment. Cold snaps or
heat waves can also overload the electric power sys-
tem. During a power outage, you may be left without
heating/air conditioning, lighting, hot water, or even
running water. If you only have a cordless phone,
you’ll also be left without phone service. If you don’t
have a battery-powered or crank radio, you may have
no way of monitoring news broadcasts. In other
words, you could be facing major challenges.
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