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Edmonton’s top 5 stories of 2019

EDMONTON – As the year comes to a close and we review all 2019 had to offer, we’re taking a look at which stories resonated most with our viewers and readers.

We took a look at analytics over the last year and compiled a list of the stories that were most popular.

Here’s a list of CityNews Edmonton’s most-read stories of 2019!

1. Should 420 become a national holiday?

 

Cannabis was legalized in 2018, but for the first 420 post-legalization, people still showed up to the Alberta Legislature to celebrate instead of protest. A group at the celebration was passing around a petition to make April 20 a national holiday.

Fire and Flower Cannabis told CityNews it’s important to recognize the historical significance of the fight to make pot legal.

“Since the 1970s 420 has been about celebrating cannabis consumption and destigmatize it and get it into legalization so now we have a reason to celebrate,” said Dayna Catt with Fire and Flower Cannabis.

RELATED: Edibles unlikely until 2020 in most provinces

There have been no plans to make 420 a holiday.

In the most recent wave of legalization, edibles are now allowed, but Albertans likely won’t see any in stores until January.

2. OPINION: People who whined about the Amber Alert are horrible people

“You are horrible people. I mean that. I am not being facetious or wry. You are not good people,” read an opinion piece from Maclean’s magazine.

The article popped up after an Amber Alert was sent out across Ontario following a parental abduction in Brampton. The emergency alert buzzed and sounded alarms on TV, radios, and cell phones late at night, waking many.

The body of 11-year-old Riya Rajkumar was found at a home in Brampton shortly after an Amber Alert was issued following her disappearance. The girl’s father, 41-year-old Roopesh Rajkumar, was charged with first-degree murder in her death. He was later found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and he did not survive.

But the morning following the alert, social media was abuzz with complaints regarding the loud notification.

READ MORE:
Don’t call 911 to complain about being awakened by Amber Alert: Police
‘Please no more alerts’: people complain about Amber Alert, again
Albertans react to latest Amber Alert

“The most common complaint is that they were too far away from the point of the crime to do anything. A woman whose tweet has since been deleted was angry about a second message to say the alert was now cancelled, believing it unnecessary. Others complained bitterly: “We do not work for [the police],” one man wrote. Some even called 911, not to provide tips, but to criticize the alert,” continued the article.

“That is what citizens are complaining about today. They were asked to help save a child and this irritated them…If you want to live in a province that protects its children, occasionally you have to roll over in bed and check your phone. And if that is too much to ask, then you are objectively a horrible person.”

3. Call for Albertans to boycott Quebec beer

 

On the surface it seemed patently un-Canadian–a call from former Wildrose leader Brian Jean for Albertans to boycott Molson Canadian in response to the growing feud between Alberta and Quebec over oil. Why Molson? Because the Canadian head office is in Montreal.

This wasn’t the first time a regional booze boycott was suggested: a few months prior then-Premier Rachel Notley banned B.C. wines from being imported into Alberta completely.

“It’s a global company and that’s the irony of it. The global head office is based in the U.S. Molson is remote, a distance from being a Canadian company and even further distance from a Quebec company,” explained David Finch from the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University.

He added that’s why it’s so hard to connect Molson beer to a Canadian jurisdiction. But, Finch said blanket regional boycotts can work in the right situation–like the B.C. wine one, however short-lived it was.

“I could argue it was successful because it did in facet put the spotlight on Alberta being a large market for B.C. wines and it’s an example of where jurisdictional boycotts do in fact have influence.”

4. Should Canadian working women get paid menstrual leave?

 

Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, Zambia and one Egyptian company are all giving their female employees the chance at a paid day off when menstruating.

The HR manager for the Egyptian company Shark and Shrimp women get one paid day off. There’s no doctor’s note needed and the company trusts its employees to only take the day if it’s absolutely needed.

“Some women can’t move their bodies from their bed [when mentrusating],” said Rania Youssef with Shark and Shrimp. The CEO of the company said he had no idea how a period could have so many adverse effects for women and after he started researching he brought in the paid leave.

Youseff added that men in the community criticized the menstrual leave when it was introduced.

“It’s still a shame in the Egyptian community to talk about that pain,” she said, but she added that the women were encouraged by the leave.

5. Makers of Zantac stopping distribution due to cancer concerns

This past September, the maker of the popular heartburn medication said it was halting distribution amid concerns of a cancer-causing chemical.

Sandoz, the makers of Zantac made the decision days after regulators in the U.S. and Europe found NDMA, a known carcinogen, in the medications.

The chemical was found in brand name and generic forms of Zantac, which the key ingredient is Ranitidine. The company also issued a recall for Canada for the following products: Sandoz Ranitidine 150 mg tablet and 300 mg tablet.

Health Canada is also asking all companies to stop distribution of the medicine.

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