The Public Interest

Commission on Foreign Interference releases schedule and witnesses for first week of public hearings

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 23, 2024

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 23, 2024 /CNW/ - The Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions has released its witness list for the National Security Confidentiality public hearings that begin on January 29, 2024.

Key Points: 
  • OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 23, 2024 /CNW/ - The Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions has released its witness list for the National Security Confidentiality public hearings that begin on January 29, 2024.
  • The hearings, which will last five days, will identify the challenges, limitations and potential adverse impacts associated with the disclosure of classified national security information and intelligence to the public.
  • "This is one of the biggest challenges that the Commission will face," said Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue.
  • The Government of Canada created the Foreign Interference Commission to respond to concerns about foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The care home sector got £2.1 billion in government COVID aid -- our research shows care workers themselves got little support

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, December 30, 2023

In England, the vacancy rate in the adult social care workforce for 2022-2023 was 9.9%.

Key Points: 
  • In England, the vacancy rate in the adult social care workforce for 2022-2023 was 9.9%.
  • Experts underline that staffing and financing were problems in the care sector well before COVID arrived in March 2020.
  • The pandemic exacerbated this crisis, despite the extra £2.1 billion in emergency government support, provided during the first year.
  • Of the care workers we spoke to, 42% are in financial distress related to having worked in care homes during the pandemic.

Care workers in dire straits

  • We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 43 care home staff, including workers and managers.
  • We found that most of the £2.1 billion in government aid went to covering care homes’ loss of revenue resulting from decreasing occupancy.
  • In the first two years of the pandemic, 1,290 care workers (including those working in domiciliary settings) died as a result of COVID-19.
  • Of the care workers we surveyed, 80% reported working more hours during the pandemic, typically doing 12-hour shifts, as opposed to the seven to eight-hour norm.
  • Taking on extra hours actually put some workers at a financial disadvantage because it reduced their eligibility for in-work benefits.

A defective funding model

  • It highlighted the demise, since 2011, of two major providers, Southern Cross and Four Seasons, which housed 45,000 elderly people between them.
  • Our findings confirm that the complex funding model on which the care home sector is based is unsustainable.
  • For the most part, however, two things kept care homes afloat in the first year of the pandemic.
  • Our [staff] turnover rate has gone up to about 33%, and we had it down at about 18% before the pandemic.
  • Our [staff] turnover rate has gone up to about 33%, and we had it down at about 18% before the pandemic.


Marianna Fotaki receives funding from UK Research and Innovation COVID Scheme Derya Ozdemir Kaya does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Nano Dimension Alerts its Shareholders:

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Waltham, Mass., Feb. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nano Dimension Ltd. (Nasdaq: NNDM, “Nano Dimension” or the “Company”), a leading supplier of Additively Manufactured Electronics (“AME”) and multi-dimensional polymer, metal & ceramic Additive Manufacturing (“AM”) 3D printers, announced today that the notice of special general meeting of the Company’s shareholders issued by Murchinson Ltd. (“Murchinson”) on February 13th, 2023 (the “Illegal Notice”) failed to comply with core requirements under applicable law and thus was made without any underlying legal right to do so. Accordingly, the Illegal Notice will be disregarded by the Company.

Key Points: 
  • Accordingly, the Illegal Notice will be disregarded by the Company.
  • Shareholders are warned: Do not follow the instructions made in Bistricer’s Murchinson’s Illegal Notice.
  • Similarly, the Illegal Notice is not compliant with the Israeli Companies Law and should be disregarded by shareholders.
  • Only The Company will inform its shareholders if and when a valid meeting will be held.

Putting the “mod” in order modification

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 1, 2022

Earlier this year, Toys R Us asked the Commission to reopen and modify its order based on changes in the market.

Key Points: 
  • Earlier this year, Toys R Us asked the Commission to reopen and modify its order based on changes in the market.
  • Under the FTC Act, a company subject to an FTC order can petition to have the order reopened and modified based on changes that have, over time, eliminated the need for the order.
  • If the respondent shows that
    a significant change in law or fact makes the order unnecessary, inequitable, or harmful to competition, the Commission will reopen to determine whether the requested modification is warranted.
  • Conditions that existed at the time the order was entered will not justify modification.
  • Changes in Law
    Changes in law can also warrant an order modification.
  • Modification in the Public Interest
    Even if changed conditions would not require it to reopen an order, the Commission may determine that it is in the public interest to do so.
  • Here too, the party under order must make an initial showing that modification would serve the public interest, for instance, by demonstrating that the order is impeding effective competition.
  • For example, although changed facts were not sufficient to warrant modification of an order requiring the divestiture of supermarkets, the Commission allowed respondents to divest an alternate supermarket in the same market.

Giving Tech Labs Completes its Run with 5 Years of Positive Social Impact

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 24, 2022

SEATTLE, Aug. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Giving Tech Labs announces the successful exit of its last venture, X4Impact, Inc., the leading Insights-as-a-Service company in the $2.9 Trillion per year Nonprofit and Tech for Good sector, honored by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea earlier this year.

Key Points: 
  • This exit marks the final chapter for Giving Tech Labs, after proving a model to create financially sustainable companies that offer technology solutions to urgent social problems.
  • "The acquisition of X4Impact Inc by the Giving Compass Network took Giving Tech Labs through a full circle, with one of our first incubations acquiring our last.
  • Giving Tech Labs highlights include:
    Giving Tech Labs created VidaNyx to protect and secure digital evidence and sensitive forensic interviews.
  • He also advises Fortune 500 companies and large Foundations on how to structure Positive Social Impact Programs that deliver results at scale.

Prop. 65 Clearinghouse Annual Conference

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, August 20, 2022

65 Conference will be the first in person meeting since the COVID pandemic.

Key Points: 
  • 65 Conference will be the first in person meeting since the COVID pandemic.
  • 65 Conference will explore the ramifications of the groundbreaking case, Lee v. Amazon, which allows online retailers to be sued for failing to provide a Prop.
  • 65 Conference will be chaired by ReneeD.Wasserman, shareholder at Rogers Joseph O'Donnell.
  • 65 cases includingEnvironmental Law Foundation v. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp.; People et al., v. Costco Wholesale Corp. et al.- Prop 65 Fish Cases JCCP; and CERT v Starbucks, Corp., Brad Barry Co. Ltd. et.