Canada
Kevin O’Leary-backed WonderFi to buy Bitbuy parent company for $162M
Kevin O’Leary-backed decentralized finance (DeFi) platform WonderFi Technologies is increasing its footprint in Canada by buying the first regulated crypto exchange in the country. WonderFi agreed to pay close to $162 million (206 million Canadian dollars) to acquire First Ledger Corp., the parent company of Bitbuy. WonderFi aims to become an end-to-end consumer platform for crypto and DeFi, according to the official announcement. Founded in 2016, Bitbuy became a fully regulated crypto exchange in Canada after being licensed by the Ontario Securities Commission last November. The platform has over 375,000 users who have transacted more than $3.4 billion. The announcement states that Bitbuy had generated over $24 million in revenue in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2021. The tran...
Canadians Are Now Hitting 2 Billion Weekly Audio Streams
Canadian consumers are now streaming more than two billion on-demand audio streams per week — a new benchmark for the country’s music industry. For the third consecutive week, Canada hit the two billion-streams mark in the week ending Nov. 25, according to MRC Data. The total 2.047 billion streams were up 15.9% from the same period last year. Two billion on-demand streams in Canada are worth about 777,500 Canadian dollars ($610,000), according to an estimate by performing rights organization SOCAN provided to Billboard based on a quarterly average earnings of 0.000389 Canadian dollars ($0.000305) per stream. (“Keep in mind this is an average that considers many platforms each with their own variables,” a SOCAN representative stated. “This n...
Quebec and British Columbia Ban Dancing In Bars and Nightclubs
As clubbers from Sin City to New York wile out in the nation’s top venues, our friends in the Great White North apparently aren’t as lucky. Two Canadian provinces have reportedly relaxed COVID-19 restrictions affecting nightlife businesses—but attendees must refrain from dancing. According to Global News, Quebec and British Columbia are currently the only two provinces with a mandate that bans dancing in bars and nightclubs. “Montréal is one of the last few cities in the world where you still can’t dance, and we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world for adults,” said Mathieu Grondin, the co-founder of MTL 24/24, a non-profit organization that analyzes, animates and provides frameworks for the city’s nightlife. “Dance floors have reopened...
The seven second summits: a tougher challenge
The seven second summits are considered to be a much harder mountaineering challenge than the more popular seven summits Previously, I’ve written about my dream of climbing the seven summits and laid out a realistic if not deeply challenging and expensive program of how to achieve that goal. This week I look at the seven second summits; the second-highest mountains on each continent. The highest summits are a dream of mine, but I draw the line at the second-highest – they’re simply too scary for an amateur enthusiast like me! Introducing the seven second summits Alpinism author Jon Krakauer wrote in Into Thin Air (one of my favourite mountaineering books) that it would be a bigger challenge to climb the second-highest peak of each continent instead of the highest. An ob...
Warner Music Nabs Kristin Burke From Universal to Run Canadian Label
Burke, who is currently executive vp and general manager at Universal Music Canada, where she has worked for more than 20 years, will report to Simon Robson, president, international, recorded music at Warner Music Group. She will succeed Steve Kane, who has served as president since 2004, and was inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame in 2015. (Kane did not respond to a request for comment.) “Kristen has a great reputation across the industry, combining great strategic insight with an instinctive empathy for artists,” Robson said in a statement. Kane, in his own statement, said he knows the company’s “future is in safe hands,” adding that he plans to focus more energy on social justice issues and music. (Kane notoriously has shopped for vinyl every weekend si...
Maroon 5 Will Be First Major US Act to Perform in Canada After Border Reopening
A spokesperson for Live Nation confirmed to Billboard that Maroon 5 will be the first major U.S. act to perform in Canada since the pandemic began early last year. Vaccinated Americans and permanent residents must submit proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival to Canada. The vaccinations must have been administered at least 14 days before entry. A steady stream of concerts in Canada featuring U.S.-based artists — most for dates in 2022 — have gone on sale this summer, including John Mayer, The Killers, Sebastian Maniscalco, Elton John and Sepultura. On the books from October through December of this year are shows in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver featuring Ricky Martin with Enrique Iglesias, Lemonheads, Maluma, Ge...
The Chainsmokers, ILLENIUM, More Set to Headline Escapade 2021
Earlier this year, the organizers of Ottawa’s renowned Escapade music festival decided that the event’s rescheduled dates in mid-June 2021 were too soon to host a safe event, thus determining a fall postponement would be the best course of action. Initially, the newly slated dates were September 3rd to 5th, offering a three-day experience. However, due to “ongoing changes and COVID restrictions,” Escapade ultimately scrapped its Friday launch and pushed it one day, truncating the fest to just September 4th and 5th. Despite the change, there is still much to celebrate for fans of Escapade thanks to its massive lineup. While the full bill is yet to be released, so far it includes The Chainsmokers, ILLENIUM, Jauz, and Claude Vonstroke, among others. You...
Ekiti governor urges Nigerians to rise up, defend democracy
The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has called on Nigerians to rise to the defence of democracy in Nigeria with a view to advancing the development of the country. Mr Fayemi made the call Tuesday in Abuja when he visited the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, Nicolas Simard, at his residence. The visit by the NGF Chairman was part of the Chairman’s shuttle diplomacy to representatives of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria, which is one of the initiatives of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum’s secretariat towards engendering inter-governmental synergy between global governments at the subnational level. Mr Fayemi’s visits on Monday took him to the residence of the Canadian ambassador to Nigeria, and the embassy of the People’s Republic of China and...
Canada, Germany, EU, others funding farming in northeast Nigeria
The People and Government of Canada, the European Union Trust Fund for Africa, the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Norway and the Kingdom of Sweden are funding the 2021 rainy season farming in troubled North-east of Nigeria. The funding, which is implemented through the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), is providing farming inputs to 65,800 farmers in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States adversely affected by over a decade Boko Haram insurgency. A statement on Friday by FAO recognized that the rainy season farm cultivation is critical to food production in Nigeria, as it ensures food availability and income generation, especially for smallholder and low-income households. The statement read: “...
Canada’s premier says he discussed border with Joe Biden, but no deal
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday he has spoken with U.S. President Joe Biden about how to lift pandemic-related border restrictions between the two countries but made clear no breakthrough has been achieved. U.S. and Canadian business leaders have voiced increasing concern about the ban on non-essential travel in light of COVID-19 that was first imposed in March 2020 and renewed on a monthly basis since then. The border measures do not affect trade flows. The border restrictions have choked off tourism between the two countries. Canadian businesses, especially airlines and those that depend on tourism, have been lobbying the Liberal government to relax the restrictions. Canada last week took a cautious first step, saying it was prepared to relax quarantine protocols fo...
Nigeria orders broadcasters not to use Twitter to gather information
Nigerian television and radio stations should not use Twitter to gather information and have to de-activate their accounts, the broadcast authority said following the move to suspend the US social media giant in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s government on Friday said it had suspended Twitter’s activities, two days after the platform removed a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish secessionists. Nigerian telecoms firms have since blocked access to Twitter. International diplomats responded with a joint statement in support of “free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria”. Buhari, who was Nigeria’s military ruler in the 1980s, has previously been accused of cracking down on freedom of expression, though his government has ...
KAYTRANADA Nabs 2021 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year
The 2021 Juno Awards saw The Weeknd dominate, as the international pop superstar added even more accolades to his trophy case after winning in the categories of Artist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Album of the Year. In the Dance Recording of the Year category, renowned producer KAYTRANADA took home the award for his Bubba LP. The seminal 17-track album features major contemporary artists such as Pharrell Williams, GoldLink, Estelle, and Iman Omari, among others. Though it was released in December 2019, Bubba, which also swept the Grammys back in March, still qualified for this year’s Juno Awards. Earlier this month, the organizers of the Juno Awards ceremony announced that a new category for Underground Dance Single of the Year wo...
