thebigstory, Author at The Big Story

Author: thebigstory

Eaton Centre shopping mall in Toronto Ont., on May 4, 2017.

Is your mall watching you?

They’re called anonymous video analytics, among other terms, and the cameras that capture them might be discreetly placed in interactive guides at your favourite shopping

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November 15, 2018

Tailing pond at the Syncrude Canada Mildred Lake Oil Sands project, belonging to a partnership of Suncor Energy, Imperial Oil, Sinopec, CNOCC and Mocal Energy, near Fort McMurray, Alberta on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.

So a couple of eco-warriors walk into a Fort Mac bar…

You’re likely a hypocrite when it comes to climate change. Yes, you. Doesn’t really matter who you are—if you’re demonizing the ecological destruction in Canada’s

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November 14, 2018

Canada defenceman Marc-Andre Gragnani (18) tries to keep the flag aloft with a breath of fresh air to celebrate Canada's bronze-medal win following third period men's hockey bronze medal game action against Czech Republic at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Saturday, February 24, 2018.

Canada’s Olympic legacy and uncertain future

Stephen Brunt was at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and remembers what they meant to a city pushing its way into the big leagues.

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November 13, 2018

FILE- In this Oct 2, 2018, file photo a for sale sign stands outside a home on the market in the north Denver suburb of Thornton, Colo. On Thursday, Nov. 8, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates.

A missing lawyer. A Toronto mansion. $17 million of other people’s money.

It all started with a mansion in the most exclusive neighbourhood in Toronto. It ended up as $17 million worth of alleged real estate fraud,

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November 12, 2018

George "Black Jack" Vowel signed up with the Calgary Highlanders in September 1914. They were with the 10th Battalion, and then the 13th Battalion after the 10th was decimated. He was an immigrant to Canada, coming as a young man with his family from the United States. He was born in Hays, Kansas. He earned the Military Medal at the Somme for Lewis gun work at Mouquet Farm.

Remember the people. Not just the numbers or battles.

This weekend marks 100 years since the First World War ended. And when we reflect, we often turn to the scale of the war—millions of

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November 9, 2018

Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg, Ont., is shown on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. Physicians are calling on the federal government to shell out another $21 billion over the next decade to help provinces and territories pay for soaring health care costs that will be propelled by the unavoidable growth of Canada's seniors population.

Is life expectancy in Canada about to drop?

They’re called deaths of despair, and they’re the reason that, for the first time since the last World War, life expectancy in the United States

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November 7, 2018

In this April 11, 2018, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. Facebook Inc. reports earnings Tuesday, Oct. 30.

When America votes today, what role will Facebook play?

There’s ample evidence Facebook helped swing the 2016 US election to Donald Trump. Since then, countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom,

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November 6, 2018

Alberta Serious Incident Response Team investigator and Calgary Police Services attend the scene of a police involved shooting in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016.

How will a small city handle Canada’s fastest-growing crime problem?

Wetaskiwin, Alberta has jumped up the rankings in Maclean’s annual report on Canada’s Most Dangerous Places. But nothing huge has suddenly changed in the small