Gareth and I joined a long line this morning, Saturday October 10, to vote in the advanced poll for the 2026 municipal election. We voted for Mayor, 2 Regional Councillors, 1 ward councillor and 3 public school trustees.

What are the municipal issues in this election? In the line up to vote, we talked about skunks, coyotes and walking our dogs. Missing cats came up (see coyotes). People also want to be able to have fires in their backyards as is allowed in Kitchener. Should people be allowed to park on the street all night? My husband always hated when people parked in front of our house. I have no idea why. Higher taxes are always an issue. Finding that balance between taxation and services is always a chore.

Housing is always an issue, whether the cost of buying or renting to the lack of accessible housing for the poor. More public washrooms and parks. I would like to tell you which candidate talked about public washrooms, but I am trying to be neutral here. Read your literature or websites like I did! And don’t forget that Regional government and City have different responsibilities. Municipal Government Overview | Waterloo Region Votes

A big one is the question: Should the city raise taxes and shovel all the sidewalks for residences and businesses. Personally, I have advocated and had success with making sure the walk throughs are shovelled and sewer drains cleared. Regional roads like Northfield with houses backing onto it and paths should be cleared. My road being a secondary road can take awhile to be plowed after a storm so I am more concerned with that.

I was told earlier in the year that there were not enough people signing up to run. At the poll, I found that there were plenty of choices, so people must have signed up at the last minute.

This year, along with a ward polling station on election day, October 26, there are also supervote locations. You can go anywhere across the city and vote. You are no longer restricted to a certain polling station. The supervote locations are as follows:

The locations are open from 10 am to 8 pm on voting day.

There are also advanced polls :

• Oct. 16, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. – Albert McCormick Community Centre
• Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex
• Oct. 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – RIM Park

Supervoting locations

You must be a Canadian citizen and 18 or over to vote, live in Waterloo, or own or rent property in Waterloo, or are the spouse of someone who owns or rents property in Waterloo. You cannot be prohibited from voting.

You can not vote for the following reasons:

You are serving a sentence in a correctional institution

a corporation ( strangely, corporations are considered people)

voting on behalf of someone else, unless you are an authorized voting proxy under the Municipal Elections Act.

University and college students can vote in their school area and/or at home.

You will get a voter’s registration card in the mail. If you forget your card, like we did, you simply show identification.

Bring one piece of identification that shows your name and current Waterloo address.

If your ID does not show your current address, you can complete a declaration form at your voting location.

Accepted identification includes:

• Ontario driver’s licence
• Ontario photo card
• utility bill
• bank statement
• government-issued document with your name and address

You can get more information at Vote in the municipal election | City of Waterloo

Candidates have left literature for you to look at, have a read and vote for the person you think is the best!

Maybe a better question is "Do we want to emulate our southern brothers various wars...?" My hope is that Canadians are a little too smart for that. However how about a war on contaminated drinking water? Really why not? In one sense speaking highly optimistically maybe we already have started. Is it conceivable that all the bad old days of mass industrial dumping on their own property has ended? Are the Varnicolor Chemical, Uniroyal Chemical, Breslube, Northstar Aerospace, Canadian General Tower, Ciba-Geigy, IMICO, Sunar, Canbar, Borg, Nutrite, Kaufman, Budd, tanneries, textile mills, steel producers all in the rearview mirror? That is the first step. The Ontario MECP needs to be replaced with honest, dedicated and intelligent people both on the ground doing inspections as well as at the top. Real, unscheduled industrial inspections with full cooperation legally mandated must begin if it hasn't already.

The most egregious, blatant and toxic sites must be contained and if possible remediated. This can not be done by proven client driven, friendly to industry consulting companies paid for by the owners of contaminated sites whether active or abandoned. These sites can not wait a day longer. Municipalities can no longer be allowed to let these sites sit until a developer comes along who does a cost benefit analysis and determines that a superficial, quick "cleanup" can still allow him to make millions of dollars profit by redeveloping the property.

End of the pipe solutions are not wrong or nefarious. Yes water treatment is necessary whether to remove bacteria and viruses or gasoline components from service stations and trichloroethylene (TCE) from local Waterloo Region manufacturers. They however must not replace front of the pipe solutions. Source removal methods have improved and whether paid for up front by the guilty polluters or by governments with serious financial collection efforts afterwards, long term cleanups must be a significant part of the process.

Ministry of Labour inspectors are about as credible as MOE/MECP inspectors particularly in non-union companies. There are safety committees mandated by law for both union and non-union shops however there are very few non-union shops so stupid as to put on a former employees Record of Employment that they were fired for skin colour, religion, political attitude, gender, safety concerns or ENVIRONMENTAL concerns. I believe that all industrial employers including non-union must be mandated to have a real, functioning, informed Environmental Committee and that they must not be handpicked company loyalists on the committee. This too would require an overhaul of Ministry of Labour staff who have been conditioned to be non confrontational and oblivious to obvious problems. To those who believe that employers have an unconditional right to do what they want on their own property let me say the obvious. Do they have a right to release toxins to the air to be inhaled by their meighbours? Do they have a right to dump solvents on their property that end up in aquifers below them that supply drinking water to the community? Obviously no such rights exist other than when already existing laws are ignored and not enforced.

This is just the start for a war on contaminated water. Otherwise we will continue down the current path whereby our authorities continually, falsely assure us that our water is safe when in fact it is deteriorating year after year as long ago contamination continues to dissolve and spread while we pump more and more for our expanding populations.    

♦

Stepping inside Aiāna restaurant, a short walk south from Parliament Hill, your attention is drawn to curved banquettes that sit centrally beneath striking light fixtures. Adjacent is a large glass enclosure of wine bottles on one wall and windows onto busy O’Connor Street on the other. Bookending the dining room, an inviting bar near the entrance and chef and co-owner Raghav Chaudhary’s open kitchen, toward the back. are focal points.

Recipient of a 2026 VineRoutes “Vine Award” for Best in Distinction, Aiāna’s design and décor motifs serve to highlight the plates that are presented to diners at their tables, according to Chaudhary.

“We wanted to open up the space here with simplicity and elegance. Guests are immersed in and fully exposed to the food, the service, the experience,” he says … For the rest of the story on how Aiāna draws on Canadian ingredients, global influences and the voices of his team are all part of defining the restaurant’s identity, visit Vine Routes.

Check out my latest post Aiāna Ottawa is a Vine Routes award winner from AndrewCoppolino.com.

The post Halloween appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

The post Halloween appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

The post Rock Rascals appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

Yesterday's K-W Record had an article by Bill Jackson titled "Development backlog cleared in Waterloo Region". I would describe it as a puffpiece designed to get the Record back in Waterloo Region's good graces after all the Record articles this past winter and spring truthfully describing and criticizing the Region's water management. Unsurprisingly the tail of the dog, Joseph Puopolo of Urban Initiatives is praising the reopening of business as usual for builders and developers in Waterloo Region. It is normal in this Region, just like in this Township (Woolwich), for the biggest beneficiaries of government expenditures to run the show. In fact here in Woolwich Township we even have the guiltiest parties (Uniroyal/Lanxess and the MECP) running large remediation efforts of which their incompetence and negligence has been the major cause.

Now regarding builders and developers it would be a major stretch to blame them for the state of our water systems. Yes they have always demanded more and better but mostly under the guise of reducing the housing crunch via higher numbers of new homes being built. The fact that the bulk of those new homes are grossly overpriced enriching everybody along the line including those buyers who are themselves making profits by flipping those homes and artificially increasing the demand. The general public are getting frozen out of home ownership. 

It has been mostly our soulless, degenerate industrialists and manufacturers who have profited here in the last one hundred years by cheerfully dumping their toxic wastes wherever they bloody wanted to primarily at little to zero cost to themselves. They have externalized those environmental costs onto the general public, the old, the young and those in vulnerable health. They have also externalized the health costs onto wildlife and the overall environment, Government oversight by the M.O.E. or MECP has been a joke at best and that's been intentional. Governments and political parties like financial support especially around election times and it's their biggest beneficiaries who give the most. I describe them as semi legal bribes. 

This spring and summer I have written here about all the industrially contaminated wells and wellfields throughout Waterloo Region. Most of these firms have walked without ever paying their fair share. Probably they figured their government "bribes" were less expensive than proper disposal costs. 

Now for my "mean and cruel" water solution. Put the new arrivals from now on in designated second class water areas. Tell them ahead of time that if they want to live here that's how it's going to be. Older residents get the best, most expensively treated water and new ones get the less treated, more contaminated water. That way we should have lots of room for growth while slowly developing an obvious group of second class citizens who might just spark the overdue political revolution needed in this Region and country.  

When Bibi shows up for her weekly shift as a volunteer at House of Friendship’s Neighbourhood Food Program, she has one goal – to make it easier for the people who come every week, looking for help to feed their families.

“When the participants come to you, they look so down,” said Bibi. “I like to cheer them up, by asking them questions: ‘How are you today? What would you like?’

♦

“I try to put some joy into their life, to make them feel like they aren’t alone.”

When Bibi first started volunteering just over two years ago, she was surprised by how busy the program was.

“I didn’t realize how many people need help. They show up early, waiting to receive their food. That was a whole new experience for me.”

Every week at Chandler Mowat Community Centre, one of the centres where Bibi volunteers, 220 households come every week to pick up food for their families. And this is mirrored at five other community centres in Kitchener and Waterloo where House of Friendship also runs community programs. With one in nine households in Waterloo Region needing food support, keeping up with the ongoing demand is a challenge.

But when Bibi volunteers, she also works hard to build a connection with the people who come for help, no matter how busy they are.

When one woman shared that her husband was struggling with his mental health, Bibi was able to let her know about free counselling services available through House of Friendship.

“House of Friendship has all these services, I didn’t even know about until I volunteered,” said Bibi. “I was glad to tell her about the services we offer.”

A few weeks later, the woman came back to Bibi, thrilled with the results.

“She gave me a big hug and told me with the service he had, he’s doing much better. I was so happy I could help.”

Bibi said that she looks forward to volunteering every week, glad to have a meaningful way to make use of her free time in retirement.

“I’ve learned that everybody has a story to tell,” Bibi said. “Sometimes all it takes is someone willing to listen. A simple conversation can help people feel seen, heard, and cared for. If you can offer a little kindness and encouragement, it reminds them that they don’t have to face life’s challenges alone.”

To learn more about volunteering at House of Friendship, visit www.houseoffriendship.org/volunteer.

The post Everybody Has a Story to Tell appeared first on House Of Friendship.

AI adoption is creating work nobody sees, measures, or values.

A recent briefing from All Tech is Human, in collaboration with the Notre Dame-IBM Tech Ethics Lab, found that people are spending substantial time checking AI outputs for accuracy, hallucinations, compliance, and tone.

There’s also less visible AI office housework: training coworkers, managing anxiety about AI, encouraging AI adoption, and translating generic AI strategies into workable day-to-day practices.

And here’s something that caught my attention: participants reported that women are disproportionately asked to lead these cultural initiatives.

The briefing describes this work as being characterized as women’s work and devalued compared with more technical AI work.

Sound familiar?

We’ve long known that women often end up doing the office housework that keeps organizations running, but rarely gets recognized in performance reviews, promotions, or pay.

So, look around your organization and ask: Who is doing the AI housework? Who gets credit for it?

Then make the work visible. Recognize and reward it. And build it into someone’s role.

To further disrupt office housework, check out my five ideas for disrupting office housework.

Share this action on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Sponsor 5 Ally Actions and put your brand or business in front of 40,000 caring individuals in business, healthcare, education, and non-profits.

Or, say thanks to Karen and buy her a coffee ☕.

Have you ever received a calendar invite titled “Quick chat” and immediately wondered, “Uh-oh. What did I do?”

HR director Justin Jackson shared a great example in a viral LinkedIn post.

On a Friday, he sent an employee an invitation for Monday at 9 a.m. titled “Quick chat.”

She spent the weekend updating her LinkedIn profile because she assumed she’d be fired.

The actual reason for the meeting? He was letting her know that a schedule change she’d requested had been approved.

“She laughed, exhaled, and asked me to never do that to her again.”

Jackson said that was the last vague invite he ever sent. Now, every invite states what it is about. For example,

• Schedule request, good news.
• Benefits form, nothing’s wrong.

And when he needs to have a difficult conversation, he sends the invitation and has the meeting the same day.

I keep spotting social media posts that use emojis as bullet points. Index fingers pointing to the right 👉, light bulbs 💡, and so on.

But if you use a screen reader, those symbols can get in the way.

As disability advocate Holly Tuke has explained,

“[Emojis as bullet points] are a nightmare for screen reader users. Not only is hearing the description of each emoji being read out before every sentence annoying, it’s also quite distracting.”

I’ll admit it: I used to do this myself. At the end of my newsletters, I share a list of actions (follow me on social media, form a Better Allies book club, etc.). I used to introduce each action with a colorful emoji. Today, that list uses simple bullets instead.

If you’re tempted to use emojis as bullets, consider switching to plain bullet points, or just a dash if your app doesn’t support formatting.

It’s a small change, but one that will make your content more accessible and inclusive.

“It’s okay to take small risks because there are people out there who take big risks. What we all do matters.” Timothy Snyder

Now, I get that not everyone works in a place free of consequences for making mistakes. (More on this below in #5.) Not everyone has the privilege to speak up without fearing they’ll lose their job. Not everyone feels they know enough to be effective allies.

But, here’s the thing. When we stand by when witnessing non-inclusive behaviors, we send the message that we’re okay with it. When we don’t take action, we are complicit.

As allies, we don’t have to do it all or take the big risks. But, I urge you to do something to advocate, amplify, and support your colleagues from underrepresented, underestimated groups. Even if it’s a less risky action.

Here are some ideas:

• Amplify voices in meetings.
• Acknowledge people’s ideas.
• Stop interruptions.
• Endorse coworkers.
• Sing someone’s praises.
• Share unwritten rules.

After reading about festivals of failure in my September 11 2026 newsletter, Joe Imholte reached out to say that while he loves the concept, he has a concern.

Specifically, when a coworker makes an equity-related mistake, some folks can’t seem to let the person move past that mistake. Even when that person truly learned from it, authentically apologized, and did everything you’d hope a person would do after making such a mistake.

Imholte wrote,

“We have become a culture that is terrible at forgiving, if we ever were good at it.”

He pointed to an article by Arianna Huffington and this powerful quote:

“Forgiveness doesn’t suspend judgment, it doesn’t mean not holding people accountable or ignoring injustices or forgetting the past. It simply allows the offender the possibility of atonement and progress.”

Imhote encourages us to realize that we all play a role in creating a culture where people can feel safe talking about mistakes, owning them, and doing better. He wrote,

“Part of that role is truly forgiving someone, and seeing who they are now, today, not the person they were when they made the mistake.”

I heartily agree.

If you’ve taken a step towards being a better ally, please reply to this email and tell me about it. And mention if I can quote you by name or credit you anonymously in an upcoming newsletter.

That’s all for this week. I’m glad you’re on this journey with me,

Karen Catlin (she/her), Author of the Better Allies® book series

100% written by me. I use AI for researching a personal archive of my books and past newsletters, and for light editing.

Copyright © 2026 Karen Catlin. All rights reserved.

Together, we can make a difference with the Better Allies® approach.

• Say thanks to Karen and buy her a coffee ☕ (Need a receipt for educational reimbursement? Reply to this email, and we’ll take care of it.)
• Sponsor an edition of this newsletter
• Follow @BetterAllies on Instagram, Medium, or YouTube. Or follow Karen Catlin on LinkedIn
• Read the Better Allies books
• Tell someone about these resources

Value AI Office Housework, and Other Actions for Allies was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

♦

The moment our Uber pulled up in front, it was clear that Montreal’s Mon Lapin in Petite Italie (Piccola Italia, if you prefer) was buzzing, evident from the lively patio activity on a warm September evening. Inside was the same energy and character, all carried off with a certain sprezzatura, I would say.

Mon Lapin might be referred to as a neighbourhood wine bar — and it absolutely has some interesting wines — but it’s more. The dining room, elegant and yet casual with suffused lighting, art work on the walls and an open kitchen with bar seating, was full: from tables of six or seven millennials (including an infant) to assorted two-tops of a wide age-range (one youthful pair, sadly, rarely looked up from their phones the entire night). Beside us were members of a small tech company from Toronto visiting Montreal for a conference; they spent much of the evening on their phones engaged in some sort of global multiplayer game, though they did have have some awareness of the quality of Mon Lapin. On the other side of us, a retired and well-heeled couple from Colorado who were passing through from Canada’s east coast: they told me that they absolutely loved their evening. I was happy to hear that.

A “Michelin-Recommended” restaurant, Mon Lapin, open since 2018, holds that distinction by virtue of high-quality ingredients and proper cookery, according to the inspectors who work for Mr. Bibendum. Their judgment when it comes to such a recommendation is, given the category, a kitchen that serves a “good meal” and food that is “above average” but not quite at the Michelin star level.

I beg to differ: I will say that, with the exception of a slightly underwhelming tuna crudo and Concord grape dish, the food on this night was star-worthy. (Having been to a starred restaurant in downtown Toronto, I can say — with certainty — Mon Lapin was superior.)

That level of execution is the work of co-chefs Jessica Noël and Marc-Olivier Frappier, and team, along with the alumni history the restaurant shares with the inimitable Joe Beef. Importantly, Mon Lapin also ranks No. 2 on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants.

The menu is one for not merely grazing and sharing but demands thoughtful and reflective savouring: a number of courses are what make the experience special. The simplicity of the marinated leeks, the lovely halibut, for example. A beef dish.

While the kitchen continuously changes these dishes, as a restaurant of this quality should, there is at least one consistent star of the menu that from all reports is something of a permanent fixture. And deservedly so: imagine the “Mr. Crunchy” sandwich called croque Monsieur but with a bivalve mollusk at its heart and you have Mon Lapin’s croque-pétoncle.

It’s inventive and delicious and seems unlikely — and at the same time it exudes a comfort-food grilled-sammie homey-ness, but elevated. A sort of compressed “cutlet” of minced and succulent scallop is nestled between gorgeous pain de mie slices grilled with beurre noisette, the morsel captures just about perfectly the blending of scallop flavour and soft and creamy texture against gentle crispiness.

While we finished the evening with a highlight of a small tasting of amaro and after-dinner sips, somehow, it was the little paper wrappers enveloping the perfectly tidy rectangular scallop sandwiches so casually, yet artfully, that made the most impact. They revealed the sprezzatura character that helps make Mon Lapin, as their cool t-shirt proclaims, “absolutely beautiful.”

Banner image/Dominique Lafond

Check out my latest post Mon Lapin for delicious croque-pétoncle from AndrewCoppolino.com.

The post CLOSURES DUE TO BRAWL SETTING appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

Bioremediation. Enhanced Bioremediation. Bioremediation with Amendments. Enhanced Bioremediation with Amendments.  Super Duper Technically Advanced Bioremediation Endorsed by Ramin Ansari, Dr. David Ash , Steve Quigley, Allan Deal, Lou Almeida plus one hundred totally groundwater ignorant Lanxess employees. There I singlehandedly have cleaned the Elmira Aquifers by the power of words. No more need to spend time, money and human effort.

Cullen Flanders of Onterris  would have us believe that chlorobenzene can be removed from groundwater via Bioremediation. Hmm. So does the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) . How strange a million years ago (it seems that long) there were discussions about using a company by the name of Grace Dearborn to spread contaminated soils on the east side surface of Uniroyal Chemical to bacterially break down the contaminants. My understanding is that this would be referred to as ex-situ Bioremediation or out of the ground Bioremediation. Cullen Flanders is suggesting in-situ Bioremediation or if you will ...in place or on site Bioremediation. UPAC was told that the ex-situ Bioremediation was unacceptable for three reasons. One it would likely stink to high heaven and two it would take far too long to break down the very difficult chlorinated solvents that were highly resistant to bacteria. Thirdly and this also speaks to timing is the fact that bacteria at the surface won't be active during cold winter months (say five months per year). 

Perhaps Cullen Flanders has a wonderful product that operates on a similar principle to skyhooks. The issue is that Bioremediation works for dissolved chlorobenzene and not NDMA or likely another hundred different contaminants beneath both the Lanxess site and other parts of Elmira. Anyone ever heard of Bioremediation working on DDT, dioxins or PCBs?  Me neither which is why those compounds and many others are referred to as POPs or PERSISTENT Organic Pollutants. Secondly if chlorobenzene can be degraded by bacteria both in shallow aerobic soils and in deeper anaerobic soils then why after literally decades in our aquifers and soils is it still there? That's because as the dissolved chlorobenzene degrades in the aquifers it is replaced by slowly dissolving chlorobenzene both on and off site by either free phase or residual DNAPL both of which have been proven to be on the Lanxess site as well as off their site underneath Elmira.

That is the nature of DNAPLS which was totally ignored by all parties including APTE in January 1994 when Rich Clausi, myself and Esther Thur (one of the three APTE founders) resigned and walked out of APTE. At the time I thought APTE leadership were merely in error when in fact it was much worse. Now decades later Woolwich Township's naive and deferential TRAC committee are holding their breaths, crossing their fingers and wishing on a star that Cullen Flanders and Onterris will be the magic cleanup bullet. If this plan was introduced by a company not being paid by Lanxess or supervised by GHD and the Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP), it might have a smidgen of credibility. Otherwise anything introduced and endorsed by those three dishonest, manipulative and corrupt (mostly MECP) groups isn't worth squat. They and their predecessors have utterly failed and utterly lied to us the public for the last thirty-seven years. How stupid do we have to be to keep believing their shi* ?    

For buyers searching for a luxury home in Kitchener that offers exceptional space, privacy and a backyard designed for everyday enjoyment, 50 Roehampton Court is a rare opportunity.

Tucked away on a quiet court in the sought-after Idlewood neighbourhood, this impressive executive home sits on an oversized pie-shaped lot backing onto a mature treed greenbelt. With more than 5,200 square feet of finished living space, four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a private main-floor office and a resort-style backyard with a heated saltwater pool and hot tub, the property delivers a combination that is increasingly difficult to find in Kitchener.

One of the standout features of 50 Roehampton Court is its setting.

Located on a quiet court in Idlewood, the home benefits from an oversized lot surrounded by mature trees and backing directly onto a greenbelt. The result is a level of privacy that feels removed from the city while remaining close to everyday amenities.

Idlewood is an established Kitchener neighbourhood known for its mature streets, access to parks and trails, proximity to Chicopee and convenient connections throughout the city. From 50 Roehampton Court, residents are minutes from schools, shopping, recreation and major commuter routes.

For buyers who value both privacy and accessibility, the location offers the best of both.

Inside, the scale of the home becomes immediately apparent.

The main level combines formal entertaining spaces with comfortable everyday living. Separate living and dining rooms provide room for hosting, while the spacious kitchen serves as the centre of the home.

Designed with extensive cabinetry, stone countertops, premium appliances and a large centre island, the kitchen offers generous space for cooking, gathering and entertaining. A bright breakfast area provides direct access to the deck, creating an easy connection between the indoor living areas and the backyard.

The adjoining great room overlooks the property and features a gas fireplace and custom built-ins, creating a warm, inviting space for everyday living.

A powder room and laundry and mudroom with direct garage access complete the main level.

A dedicated main-floor office adds another level of functionality.

Positioned away from the primary living spaces, the room provides a comfortable setting for working from home while maintaining privacy from the rest of the household.

For buyers requiring additional bedroom space, the office also offers the potential to function as a fifth bedroom.

Upstairs, four spacious bedrooms are complemented by three full bathrooms.

The primary suite feels more like a private retreat than a traditional bedroom. Vaulted ceilings create an immediate sense of volume, while a separate lounge offers space for reading, relaxing or creating a private sitting area.

A second laundry area adds everyday convenience, and an upper-level balcony provides another quiet place to enjoy the surrounding setting.

An oversized walk-in closet provides extensive storage, while the spa-inspired five-piece ensuite features heated flooring, a tiled glass shower and a freestanding soaker tub.

The upper level continues to prioritize comfort and privacy. A second bedroom includes its own five-piece ensuite with heated flooring, while two additional bedrooms share a four-piece bathroom.

The finished lower level dramatically expands the home’s living and entertaining space.

An expansive recreation room with a gas fireplace provides room for multiple seating areas, while a dedicated games area is currently configured for indoor hockey.

A full bar creates a natural gathering place for entertaining, complemented by a four-piece bathroom and direct walk-up access to the backyard.

With the amount of finished space available, the lower level can easily accommodate movie nights, games, fitness equipment, entertaining or extended family living.

The home is equipped with a Control4 smart-home system, integrating technology throughout key areas of the property.

Lighting, climate, entertainment and built-in audio can be managed through the system, providing a streamlined approach to controlling the home’s everyday functions.

For a property of this scale, the added convenience of integrated smart-home technology makes the living experience even more seamless.

The backyard is one of the property’s most impressive features.

Mature trees surround the outdoor living spaces, creating exceptional privacy around the heated saltwater pool and hot tub.

Expansive deck and patio areas offer multiple spaces for dining, lounging and entertaining, while a gazebo provides a covered outdoor retreat. Landscaped grounds complete the setting, creating a backyard that feels more like a private resort than a typical residential property.

Whole-property irrigation simplifies landscape maintenance, while automated pool systems make managing the outdoor amenities easier throughout the season.

Backing directly onto the treed greenbelt further enhances the sense of privacy and creates a peaceful backdrop rarely found within the city.

The home’s scale and presentation continue at the front of the property.

An interlocking stone driveway leads to the double garage, while mature landscaping complements the home’s executive exterior.

Inside and out, the property has been designed to accommodate both large-scale entertaining and comfortable everyday living.

Located in east Kitchener, Idlewood offers convenient access to some of the area’s best outdoor recreation and everyday amenities.

Residents are close to Chicopee, neighbourhood parks and trails, schools, shopping and major transportation routes. Highway access makes commuting throughout Waterloo Region and beyond straightforward, while Downtown Kitchener and other major employment and entertainment areas remain within easy reach.

For buyers searching for a home in Kitchener that provides more land, privacy and living space without sacrificing convenience, Idlewood continues to be an attractive option.

Homes offering this combination of 5,200+ square feet of finished living space, a private greenbelt lot, saltwater pool, extensive entertaining areas and a quiet court location are rarely available in Kitchener.

50 Roehampton Court offers the space of a substantial executive residence with the privacy and outdoor lifestyle buyers often have to leave the city to find.

If you have been searching for a luxury home for sale in Kitchener, this is one to see in person.

Interested in 50 Roehampton Court? Contact The Deutschmann Team to learn more about the property or arrange a private showing.

The post A Rare Idlewood Home With a Private Resort-Style Backyard appeared first on Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Agent - The Deutschmann Team.

Position Title: Board of Directors Location: Remote across Canada Type: Unpaid volunteer position

Application deadline: October 21, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET

Start date: February 2027

Girl Guides of Canada (GGC) is seeking three volunteers to serve on the Board of Directors as Directors-at-Large. We are looking for individuals with expertise in the following areas:

• Youth perspective (age 18-30), particularly with lived experience in the Guiding program.
•  Leadership experience: extensive experience in a leadership role, in either employment, volunteer or extra-curricular capacity.
• Human resources experience: expertise in an oversight or advisory capacity in human resources-related role, including responsibilities related to strategy, policies, compensation and benefits, organizational culture, succession planning and performance evaluation of a CEO.
• Preferred experience in a membership association: professional experience as a staff member, volunteer or Board Director responsible for governance in a membership organization.

Experience with the Guiding program is an asset.

Girl Guides of Canada (GGC) is a leading positive youth development organization, helping girls and youth ages 5–17 build confidence, resilience and the skills they need to thrive. In a safe, inclusive space, girls in Guiding form lasting friendships, explore new interests and develop critical leadership and future-ready skills. Through innovative, girl-driven experiences ranging from outdoor adventures to community engagement, girls and youth gain the confidence, support and connections they need to make a meaningful impact in their community and beyond.Mission: To be a catalyst for girls empowering girls.

As the governing body of GGC, the Board of Directors is committed to the Mission and Vision of GGC and acts in the best interests of the organization. The Board consists of between ten and fourteen members. These Board members functions as a group, but each Director has specific, individual responsibilities. Every Board member is expected to act honestly and in good faith in exercising their powers and discharging their duties with a view to the best interests of GGC.

Board members are expected to understand and maintain confidentiality and avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

• Oversight of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
• Strategic planning
• Financial oversight
• Governance
• Monitoring organizational performance
• Risk management
• Board and Director development and evaluation
• People and Culture
• Crisis management.
• Fund development
• External relationships

Board Directors are voting members at the Annual General Meeting.

Members of the Board are volunteers and, as such, serve without compensation. Expenses incurred in conducting regular Board business will be reimbursed.

GGC is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. We value a recruitment and selection process that is inclusive and barrier-free and, as such, encourage applications from individuals who are racialized, Indigenous, people from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities and other equity-deserving groups. GGC welcomes women – cisgender and transgender – as well as non-binary people who are comfortable in spaces that focus on and are driven by the experience of girls and youth to apply to our Board.

The Board meets four to five times a year. A maximum of two of these meetings are held in person while the other meetings are conducted virtually. A regular schedule of meetings will be set at least six months in advance, with meeting agenda and other meeting material sent at least one week in advance.

All Board Directors are also expected to sit on a Board Committee and engage in Committee work and meetings.

GGC’s Board is a working board. This role requires between five to fifteen hours per month or more for larger portfolios.

Board Directors hold their positions for a three-year term, with the possibility of extension. The term begins February 2027 and will finish February 2030.

For more information and to apply, please visit Girl Guides of Canada’s website.

The post GIRL GUIDES OF CANADA appeared first on Capacity Canada.

If you’re looking for work and finding the process difficult, there may be a barrier getting in the way. A barrier to employment is anything that can make it more difficult to prepare for, find or keep a job. And barriers can look different for everyone.

Someone might have limited work experience or be unsure how to create a résumé. Someone else might find interviews challenging, need accommodations because of a disability or have been away from the workforce for a long time. Sometimes the biggest barrier is simply not knowing where to start.♦

Barriers to employment can include:

• Limited work experience
• Difficulty creating a résumé or completing job applications
• Feeling unsure or uncomfortable during interviews
• Not knowing what type of work matches your skills and interests
• A disability or need for workplace accommodations
• Being away from employment for a period of time
• Difficulty understanding workplace expectations
• Needing additional support to learn or succeed in a new role

Having a barrier to employment doesn’t mean you can’t work. It simply means there may be something making your path to employment more challenging, and some additional support could help.

♦KW Career Compass works with adults in Waterloo Region who experience barriers to employment. Employment support isn’t about deciding what job someone should have. It starts with getting to know the person: their strengths, interests, experiences and goals.

Depending on where someone is in their employment journey, support may include:

• Building job-readiness skills
• Preparing a résumé and cover letter
• Practising for interviews
• Exploring employment opportunities
• Connecting with employers
• Preparing to start a new job

Job coaching and on-the-job support may also be available depending on the person’s needs, eligibility and current program capacity.

Sometimes the first step isn’t applying for a job. KW Career Compass offers job-readiness opportunities, including LEG Up! to Work, for adults 18+ who experience barriers to employment. Participants have opportunities to build practical employment skills, including résumé and cover letter development, interview practice, workplace expectations, receiving feedback and understanding their own skills and strengths.

The goal is to help people feel more prepared and confident as they take their next step toward employment.

Removing barriers to employment isn’t only the responsibility of job seekers. KW Career Compass also works with employers to help create employment relationships that work for both the employee and the employer. That can include helping employers connect with candidates, supporting someone’s transition into a new position and helping create a workplace where people have an opportunity to contribute their skills.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, but creating more inclusive employment opportunities is work that happens throughout the year.

For KW Career Compass, that means helping people identify their strengths, build skills, find opportunities and take meaningful steps toward their employment goals.

Looking for help finding a job in Kitchener-Waterloo?

Learn more about KW Career Compass →

The post What Is a Barrier to Employment? appeared first on KW Habilitation.

I do not believe that 100% of consultants are disreputable, client driven liars. It would seem reasonable however to suspect that consultants working long term for proven, lying polluters may very well be so. I have a ton of respect for many credentialed professionals including Dr. Richard Jackson, Dr. Henry Regier and with much less exposure to him, Dr. Neil Thompson of the University of Waterloo. Included in my high respect list of course is both Dr. Beth Parker and Dr. John Cherry. I am well aware of some of the excellent hydrogeological work they have done in particular regarding DNAPLS.

  AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be a very helpful tool just as an encyclopedia or other published reports and data lists are. AI however does not attend meetings directly nor listen to human voices generally speaking. I do not know whether AI even has access to on-line audio/video recordings of meetings such as those of Woolwich Township's well behaved and always polite TRAC committee. The old joke/saying is that they would not say shi* if their mouth was full of it and while I commend their members for their restraint I also advise that restraint of that magnitude simply breeds arrogance and disrespect when dealing with unethical, dishonest persons and groups.

AI also can be manipulated by those very same unethical and dishonest persons and groups. AI is not the repository of all knowledge. Hence if an unethical person does not like AI's answer to a question they can respond with inaccurate, alleged facts in an attempt to sway AI's answers which is entirely possible. Also AI appears quite capable of accepting blatantly illogical and scientifically inaccurate information and repeating it just because the majority of people accept it. This includes character profiles based upon the inaccurate, published profiles of others. For example if the only published data about a former Prime Minister is positive than AI will give him/her a glowing report. Think of Sir John A. McDonald as a founder of Canada and then as a founder of the brutal, residential school systems. Two different pictures arrive.

I recently schooled AI about their mistaken interpretation of chlorobenzene concentrations off the former Uniroyal Chemical site. Their sources included shabby DNAPL reports done by CRA as well as recent pronouncements by GHD consultants. AI's logic was faulty based upon one sided positions taken by consultants paid for by Lanxess Canada. AI also quoted Dr. Neil Thompson's Conceptual Site Model (CSM) as supporting their interpretation. Now I have a copy of that CSM and my recollection is that it was generally excellent however with a couple of possible errors most likely due to bad information being supplied by Lanxess or GHD. AI's position may have been due to either bad initial information given to Dr. Thompson or it may have simply been GHD misquoting or taking one of Dr. Thompson's statements out of context. In other words AI is just as vulnerable to spreading misinformation as other sources are. Hopefully however AI's mistakes are honest mistakes not malicious, intentional ones.        

“The modelling framework itself represents a methodological leap. HydroGeoSphere solves surface and subsurface flow simultaneously within a single implicit system, coupling three-dimensional variably saturated groundwater flow described by the Richards equation with two-dimensional overland and channel flow governed by the diffusion-wave approximation of the Saint-Venant equations.”

We’re pleased to share that recent HydroGeoSphere (HGS) research has been featured in Scienmag. The article, “How Far Does Water Travel When Peatlands Are Rewetted? A New Model Reveals the Answer.” examines how different peatland restoration interventions influence water-table recovery across a boreal fen in northern Finland, based on research by Omar Ashraf Nimr, Hannu Marttila, Okke Batelaan, Daniel Partington, and Pertti Ala-Aho.

The research paper addresses an important question for peatland restoration: when drainage ditches are blocked or filled, how far do the hydrological benefits of rewetting actually extend? Restoration assessments often rely on individual monitoring wells, making it difficult to determine how interventions affect groundwater conditions across an entire peatland. The researchers addressed this challenge using a fully integrated, three-dimensional HydroGeoSphere model of the Matorovasuo peatland and its surrounding headwater catchment.

HydroGeoSphere enabled the researchers to simulate coupled surface–subsurface flow across both drained and restored configurations while incorporating rainfall, snowmelt, evapotranspiration, peat stratigraphy, groundwater observations, and restoration structures. The model represented the effects of ditch infilling and damming across the peatland, allowing the researchers to examine not only water-table changes immediately surrounding restoration structures but also how those effects propagate laterally across the wider landscape.

The Scienmag feature highlights how hydrological modelling with HydroGeoSphere can provide researchers with a more complete understanding of where, when, and how far rewetting interventions may influence peatland hydrology. Rather than assuming restoration benefits are limited to the immediate vicinity of blocked ditches, the HydroGeoSphere simulations demonstrate that restoring hydrological connectivity can produce substantial far-field effects across the peatland landscape.

We originally highlighted this research on our blog, including more detail on the HydroGeoSphere modelling approach, groundwater response and implications for peatland restoration planning and climate mitigation.

The recognition of this work by Scienmag further showcases how fully integrated surface–subsurface modelling with HydroGeoSphere can help translate complex hydrological processes into practical insights for ecosystem restoration. By quantifying how restoration effects propagate beyond individual interventions, this research provides a framework for designing more effective peatland rewetting strategies and improving the long-term recovery of these important carbon-rich ecosystems.

♦

There are a couple of physical and tactile tests that you can do to check if your expensive strip loin or fat, juicy lamb chop is done cooking and ready to eat.

By making the “okay sign” with your thumb and forefinger and using a finger on your opposite hand to press gently on the meaty part of the base of your thumb where it joins the palm, you can roughly estimate the degree of doneness by poking your protein with a finger.

For example, thumb and forefinger held together will give you a feel for what is rare. Thumb together with the middle finger is basically medium rare, while thumb and pinky tightens that part of your lower thumb which approximates a steak that is well done (and so sad). It’s a good estimation, but it is guess work.

It’s better to get yourself a thermometer.

A simple probe thermometer costs as little as $10 and gives you more accurate temperature readings for any kind of food. There are much more expensive and programmable probe thermometers that have alarms and bells and whistles and cost $25, but they aren’t necessary if you don’t want to spend the money. Some higher-end professional devices sell for $100 or more.

A simple probe thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat you are cooking will give you an excellent indication of degree of doneness. With something like a beautiful steak, you don’t want to go past the point of how you like it cooked – because there is no way back. And if you have concerns about cooking chicken to a safe temperature, a thermometer is the best guide rather than guessing or simply hoping that it has been in the oven long enough.

The last steps to that perfect piece of protein is to remove it from the heat a couple of degrees below the temperature you want it to be: the meat will continue to cook a bit longer with residual heat. Then, cover the steak or chop or chicken breast loosely and let it rest for at least 10 minutes so the juices reassemble after being in the heat.

And be patient: cutting into it too early will result in a lot of the juices – and flavour – being lost.

Check out my latest post Take your temperature from AndrewCoppolino.com.

At least three things have to occur. First we need to get rid of our current Mayor. YES  that is occurring! Second whoever becomes our new mayor (Schwindt or Burgess) has to have an open mind and look carefully at the failures of the last thirty-seven years. Thirdly preferably either get rid of the CAO or at the very least stop taking his advice as always in the best interests of Woolwich Township residents and taxpayers.

O.K. there are four or five items that need attention. Our new Mayor needs to look carefully at what we the residents of Elmira and Woolwich Township were promised at the start of the recognized Elmira Water Crisis. Our drinking water aquifers would be fully restored by 2028 AND the sewer known as the Canagagigue Creek would also be cleaned up. The reality is that our groundwater is still toxic as is the Canagagigue Creek despite improvements in its' odour and appearance. Five miles (7.5 km) of Creek whose sediments and creekbank soils are filled with Dioxins, DDT, PCBs, mercury and PAHs is an offence to nature as well as the farmers and residents living along the downstream Creek.

Number five is even easier. CAO Brenneman, Shantz and Council have surrounded themselves with one side of the pollution crisis. That is the side of all the guilty parties. That is Lanxess Canada, their client driven consultants (GHD), the Ont. Min. of Environment (MECP), and an alleged "citizens" committee (TRAC) made up of deferential, out of their depth but totally acceptable to Lanxess and the MECP, folks who merely maintain the status quo. The status quo does not and has not worked! Woolwich's current trajectory will guarantee both non cleanup of our aquifers and Creek as well as Woolwich Township ending up in history as the biggest, backwards, rural hick Township in Ontario willingly run in circles for decades by Uniroyal Chemical and successors. 

Number five above requires an immense change. Why do you think that there was so very little input from the groundwater experts at the University of Waterloo over the last 37 years? Uniroyal and fellow travellors did not want them involved! A number of those very well known hydrogeologists (eg. Cherry & Parker) have moved to the University of Guelph where they continue their groundbreaking research. Dr. Richard Jackson, if we are lucky, still lives nearby in Heidelberg. He was an amazing breath of fresh air as the first TAG Chair who resigned suddenly likely due to what he referred to as public policy failures. Wrap your minds around that if you will. Finally there is the one loud and noisy local citizen and resident who has been yelling into the silence since Sandy's coup in 2015 (i.e. moi). There are still some CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committee) members who may be available but only if they see real change versus cosmetic change. Woolwich this is likely your last opportunity to reverse course and MAYBE actually improve the environment. What are needed are honest, unbiased environmental experts combined with hardnosed citizens backing them versus self-serving, client driven toadies, sycophants, fellow travellors and cooptees. 

Drach, K., Leven, C., & Cirpka, O. A. (2026). Discharge‐Targeted Hydraulic Tomography to Quantify and Locate Aquifer Discharge. Groundwater. doi.org/10.1111/gwat.70081

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

“To constrain the distribution of the mean conductivity, we simulated drawdown curves of single-well pumping tests in the reference field and analyzed them following Papadopulos and Cooper Jr. (1967) to also account for wellbore storage effects. The diameter of wells is set to 0.05 m resulting in wellbore storage which is explicitly modeled as one-dimensional pipe flow by HydroGeoSphere.”

Fig 1. (a) Reference log-hydraulic conductivity field and contour-lines of hydraulic head (white lines) for ambient flow. No-flow conditions are applied at the boundaries at the top and bottom. The central dashed line indicates the defined control plane. Buffer zones (15 km) are applied up- and downstream of the domain shown. (b) Location of wells.

We're pleased to highlight this publication by Konstantin Drach, Carsten Leven, and Olaf A. Cirpka, which introduces a novel Discharge-Targeted Hydraulic Tomography (DTHT) approach for quantifying and locating groundwater discharge in heterogeneous aquifers. Using HydroGeoSphere (HGS), the researchers demonstrated how strategically placed pumping and observation wells can provide more accurate estimates of groundwater discharge and identify preferential flow zones than conventional pumping test analyses.

Accurately quantifying groundwater discharge remains a significant challenge in hydrogeology because it depends on both the hydraulic conductivity distribution and hydraulic gradients within highly heterogeneous aquifers. Traditional pumping tests typically estimate a single effective transmissivity using analytical solutions that assume homogeneous aquifer conditions. While these methods can provide reasonable large-scale estimates, they often fail to capture the complex spatial variability of groundwater flow, particularly in aquifers containing preferential flow paths or structural heterogeneity. Although full hydraulic tomography can resolve these complexities, it generally requires dense well networks and extensive field campaigns that are often impractical at larger scales. This study addresses these limitations by developing a simplified, target-oriented hydraulic tomography approach designed specifically to estimate groundwater discharge over management-relevant scales.

Fig 3. Drawdown over time after start of pumping of the posterior ensemble (gray band and black line) compared to synthetic reference data (red dots). Blue bands indicate the prediction interval. An exemplary selection of pumping (pump) and observation (obs) locations is shown here. The w-numbers indicate the well positions in Figure 1b.

The researchers developed a synthetic channel-like aquifer representing a shallow alluvial valley and simulated groundwater flow using HydroGeoSphere. A series of strategically distributed pumping and observation wells were placed across a 100-metre-wide control plane, where multiple pumping tests were performed and hydraulic head responses were recorded. The resulting drawdown data were combined with ambient groundwater head measurements and analyzed using an iterative ensemble smoother to estimate the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity and quantify both total groundwater discharge and localized specific discharge across the aquifer. This approach deliberately sacrificed fine-scale resolution in favour of accurately resolving the flow features that most strongly influence groundwater discharge.

The simulations demonstrated that the discharge-targeted hydraulic tomography approach significantly outperformed conventional pumping test analysis. The method successfully identified the major high- and low-conductivity features controlling groundwater flow while accurately reproducing spatial patterns of specific discharge across the control plane. Compared with traditional analytical interpretations, the tomographic approach produced more accurate estimates of total groundwater discharge, reduced prediction uncertainty, and successfully identified preferential flow zones that would otherwise remain unresolved. The study also showed that even with relatively coarse well spacing, the approach was able to capture the larger-scale flow structures most relevant for groundwater management and contaminant transport investigations.

HydroGeoSphere was central to this research by providing the fully integrated numerical framework needed to simulate both transient pumping tests and ambient groundwater flow within heterogeneous aquifers. The model solved the groundwater flow equations under varying pumping conditions while representing complex hydraulic conductivity distributions, allowing the researchers to evaluate thousands of conductivity realizations during the inversion process. This enabled the team to quantify not only groundwater discharge but also the uncertainty associated with the estimated conductivity fields and flow patterns.

This research demonstrates how HydroGeoSphere can support more efficient groundwater characterization by combining integrated groundwater modelling with advanced inversion techniques. Rather than attempting to resolve every small-scale geological feature, the proposed discharge-targeted approach focuses on identifying the hydraulic structures that most strongly influence groundwater discharge. This provides water resource managers and environmental consultants with a practical method for locating preferential flow paths, improving contaminant remediation strategies, designing hydraulic barriers, and better quantifying groundwater resources while reducing the cost and complexity of traditional hydraulic tomography surveys.

Abstract:

Quantifying and localizing groundwater discharge is inherently difficult. It requires knowledge about hydraulic conductivity and the hydraulic gradient on the scale of interest. Conventional hydraulic testing, such as pumping tests, may fail in the presence of heterogeneity and complex structural boundaries. While advanced 2D and 3D hydraulic tomography may resolve small-scale heterogeneity, it is typically limited to small spatial scales and requires costly field installations. We propose a simplified tomographic approach using a limited number of pumping and observation wells spatially distributed over a well profile in the order of 100 m transverse to the direction of ambient flow. To infer the spatially variable hydraulic-conductivity field from drawdown data with its uncertainty, we apply an iterative ensemble smoother. Subsequently, the posterior ensemble of hydraulic-conductivity fields is used to calculate total and specific discharge based on the observed ambient hydraulic heads in the same wells. We test our approach in a synthetic scenario mimicking a channel-like aquifer such as the quaternary fill in a small river valley. The results demonstrate that multiple spatially distributed pumping tests are suitable to quantify total discharge and its associated uncertainty. The approach is more reliable than a conventional one that estimates effective transmissivity from fitting analytical solutions to pumping-test data. The tomographic analysis additionally allows locating spatial patterns of specific discharge at a resolution similar to the spacing of the wells, which may be important when assessing and remediating contaminant plumes.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

We’re planning to move from Kitchener-Waterloo to Victoria. Victoria’s real estate market is pricier: if you believe CMHC, the average KW house is $750k while the average Victoria house is $1M. So we’re looking at an extra $250k of housing cost. Having actually looked at MLS, I think it’ll be more like $400k, though.

The received wisdom is that money you expect to use in the next 1-2 years shouldn’t be invested in the stock market, so we looked for places to deposit cash while we wait to buy. There are a lot of options!

The no-brainer recommendation on r/PersonalFinanceCanada is to invest in CASH.TO.

It’s easy and safe…but the yield is only 2% or so.

We recently started banking with Wealthsimple. They offer an account that pays 2.5%, no minimum balance to qualify, no fees, no minimum term.

The interest rate isn’t great, and since we’re participating in the (Un)real Deal promotion, we ironically have a strong disincentive towards depositing new money into Wealthsimple. The promotion penalizes you for withdrawing from the account, regardless of whether you’re withdrawing new money or old money.

A non-cashable 6-month GIC pays 3.2%, a 1-year non-cashable GIC pays 3.7%.

Pro: set-and-forget. Con: the money would be locked up, with no liquidity.

A box spread is an options strategy that delivers close to the risk-free rate of a government bond.

The practical way to do box spreads is in USD, exposing you to currency exchange risk or requiring you to pay to hedge that risk, which we didn’t like.

ZXCO is a BMO target-date corporate bond ETF that will wrap up in November 2027, and has a yield to maturity of 3.32%. Being an ETF, there’s the option for liquidity if needed earlier. Still, 3.3% isn’t that great.

Some banks run promotional interest rates to attract new clients. Generally you get 4-5% for about three months, and then the rate plummets to close to 0%. You have to hop from bank to bank chasing promos, a process known as “churning”.

What the heck, we’re only doing this for a year or so, let’s give it a try.

We already had a relationship with Tangerine, so we started with them.

Their offer was 3.75% for 3 months. We used it until it expired, at which point the rate dropped to 0.3%.

One minor complaint with them: you can only move money out of Tangerine in batches of $25,000 per day, unless you call their back office and get them to override some limits.

Once the Tangerine offer expired, Scotia looked like a good candidate. They’re a Big Five bank, how bad could it be?

Yeesh.

Their offer was complicated! There was a tiered rate of up to 2% (depending on your account balance) and then a promo rate of 2.8%. We ended up getting 1.75% + 2.8% = 4.55%.

They were a bit of a nightmare to deal with, though. The day I opened the account, they had a multi-hour outage.

Funding the account took several days, during which time the clock on the promotional rate was ticking down.

As a final insult, Scotia charges $5/transaction to move money out of the account. Or, you can open a chequing account for $4/month and get 15 “free” transactions. So I tried to do that, but kept running into issues saying I couldn’t open a chequing account online.

Luckily, a better solution presented itself before we needed to get the money out of the account.

Tangerine offered a new promo rate of 4.65%. We switched back from Scotia. This also meant that we could exit Scotia for free, as Tangerine could do an EFT with no fees.

Well, I dunno. Churning is about $2,300 per $100k better than CASH.TO on a pre-tax basis, despite the minor bookkeeping headaches every few months.

In the bigger picture, there is a chance that the stock market will continue to rage, in which case we’ll look like idiots for having accepted both a lower rate of return (the TSX returned 32% in 2025) and worse tax treatment (interest income is included at 100% vs 50% for capital gains).

At any rate (chuckle, chuckle), it does make it easier to sleep at night knowing that the plan will work regardless of what the market does.

A small, fast decision model, or system one model, for agentic workflows. Pick between options or rate on a scale faster than an LLM, with a calibr…

Python 569 Updated Oct 9