'A little like Game of Thrones': How the Royal Family came to rule
We may associate the Royal Family with strict protocols and stiff upper lips, but King Charles III and the House of Windsor can trace their lineage back through centuries of bloody wars and brutal power struggles to 1066, when the illegitimate son of a duke and grandson of a tanner ascended the throne. I tried to somehow distill a thousand years worth of dynastic lineage into as many words in this overview that traces the Windsors back to William the Conqueror.
I cover a broad range of topics as a freelance general news writer at CTVNews.ca. From the serious to the absurd, you can find a (regularly updated) selection of those stories here as well.
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Pivot Magazine Features
Pivot Magazine is the award-winning flagship print publication for CPA Canada, and publishes features and analyses that focuses on the people, organizations and ideas shaping the future of business. Read about “kidult” toy trends and zero waste cleaning products here.
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Lack of legal cannabis seeds fuels spike in black-market sales
Some illegal cannabis seed vendors are reporting big spikes in sales since recreational cannabis was legalized last month, driven by the lack of legal seed supply outside the medical marijuana system.
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New CMHC guidelines could open doors to financing for self-employed
Muhammad Arif Omari, a driver from Edmonton, was set to renew his mortgage in September when he was told he wouldn’t be able to switch to a new lender offering a lower rate because he was self-employed. New guidelines could make it easier for self-employed borrowers to qualify for financing.
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Employers increasingly frustrated by job interview ‘no shows’
Chef Devan Rajkumar, owner of newly opened Loch & Quay restaurant in Toronto, was short-staffed recently and rapidly lined up a bunch of interviews and trial shifts for cooks. His frustration mounted as a string of the candidates didn’t turn up.
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Once skeptics, angel investors warm to emerging cannabis sector
A growing number of Canadian angel investors are betting on the future of cannabis as stigma around investing in the industry fades ahead of legalization plans later this year.
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U.S. credit agencies test Canadian blockchain identity network ... and other Fintech stories
I started covering financial technology, aka “fintech” around the start of 2017. Everyone was talking about “fintech”, blockchain, distributed ledgers, digital identity, AI, machine learning. I was carving out a fun new beat, learning a ton and some of the stuff was fascinating. But alas, 2017 was also the year Home Capital, an alternative mortgage lender in Canada, saw a run on its high-interest savings accounts, and it was all hands on deck to help out. My other beat, retail, also turned into a bit of a beast, as Sak’s owner Hudson’s Bay faced shareholder discontent and Sears Canada filed for creditor protection. Here are some of the fintech and blockchain stories that managed to see the light of day before things went off the rails.
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Canadian fintechs shine as investments near record
Venture capital-backed investment in Canadian financial technology companies hit its highest level in almost two decades last year, even as the flow of funds into major fintech markets like the United States declined, according to sector data.
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