Latest / VOCM On Demand / VOCM News Late-Day Update September 29th

Transcript

VOCM News Late-Day Update September 29th · VOCM On Demand

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I'm Zach Power. It looks as though there won't be
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: any mass exodus from the Provincial Operating Grant Program for daycares.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: VOCM's Beth Fagan has more.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Earlier this month, it was revealed that members of the
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: advocacy group NL Child Care Licensees were planning to opt
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: out of the program as of October 1st due to
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: concerns with changes to the program. A series of meetings
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: was initiated between the group and government, and now it
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: appears as though there has been a resolution. A letter
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: from the group posted to the Kids Campus Portugal Co.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Facebook page says it has received confirmation from the Department
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: of Education that enrollment requirements for its members will stay
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: the same for the remainder of its contract, which expires
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: on March 31, 2027. They say that means there will
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: be no impact to their funding. Further, they state that
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: government has committed to consulting with child care providers before
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: making any further changes. Beth Fagan, VOCM, Local News Now.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: First Light has issued its 2026 reconciliation report. The report,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: titled The Sound of Our Footsteps, was released just ahead
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Relational Connections
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Coordinator Noah Shepard says the last report was released in 2024,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and in the last two years, there's been some big
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: wins since then.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: We're talking about the opening of Harvey House, which is
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: our 10-unit transitional housing facility. It specifically supports Indigenous women
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: and 2SLGBTQ plus people who have lived experience of violence.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: We've also managed to secure an initial grant from the
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: Department of Health and Community Services to open our Urban
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Indigenous Health Clinic, which will hopefully be in operation in
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: the fall once our new headquarters is up and running.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is discontinuing its practice of
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: spraying down vehicles boarding the Gulf Ferries. VOCM's Richard Duggan
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: has more.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: It's been the routine for all traffic boarding in Port
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: Abasque and Argentia in efforts to prevent the spread of
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: potato wort. The fungal disease, which is commonly found in
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: Newfoundland soil, poses no risk to humans but can devastate
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: potato crops. It's a risk to farmers in the Maritimes
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: who could have their crops wiped out by the fungus,
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: which presents on spuds as a cauliflower-like gall. A 2021
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: outbreak in Prince Edward Island led to a loss of
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: $ 120 million in exports. The practice of hosing down vehicles
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: at the ferry terminal is being discontinued due to funding
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: cuts at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The Liberal government
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: outlined its plans in the budget to cut roughly 40,000
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: jobs in the public workforce and reduce spending at the
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: CFIA by 15%. 21 people are employed by the CFIA
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: in Port-au-Basque and in Argentia. Richard Duggan, VOCM, Local News Now.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: And finally, Loblaw says it's new AI chatbot for healthcare.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: has processed more than 100,000 questions in its first week.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: The company says PCChat is trained on Canadian clinical sources
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: from provincial vaccine guidelines to health charities like Diabetes Canada.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Many healthcare professionals and medical technology experts say the chatbot
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: fills the need for more reliable, Canadian-specific health information than
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: a general AI chatbot. And that's your news. Your weather
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: forecast is next.