National News

From the frosty throes of a Canadian winter, the land of conquistadors and Frida Kahlo can seem a million miles away. 

But that's not the way North American diplomats, trade experts and business leaders see it — and they hope the continent's leaders have a similar vision as the so-called "Three Amigos" gather this week in Mexico City. 

"The potential for North America is immense," said Eric Farnsworth, the former Clinton-era White House official who now leads the D.C. office of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society.

The federal government says 1.8 million Canadians travelled to Mexico in 2022. Some of the more popular tourist spots include Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Mazatlan, Playa Del Carman and Puerto Vallarta.

Travel agents say direct flights from many locations and all-inclusive resorts are a major draw.

But, like other travel, it's not without risks.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says he shared a call with King Charles that centred on environmental issues. 

Trudeau's office says he and the King discussed the COP15 biodiversity summit that was held in Montreal last month, where nearly 200 countries signed a landmark conservation agreement.

They also exchanged "ideas on tackling climate change and protecting the environment moving forward."

Canadian tourists were trapped inside a Mexican hotel Thursday as buses that were supposed to take them to an airport and safely home burned outside. 

"It's just chaos," said Tina Dahl of Edmonton, whose six family members stranded in the popular tourist city of Mazatlan were supposed to fly out Thursday night.

The federal government advised Canadians in Mexico to limit their movements and shelter in place due to violence in the western part of the country. 

Airline passengers leaving China, Hong Kong and Macau will have to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test when they enter Canada starting today.

The Canadian government announced last week that the travellers would need a negative test administered within 48 hours of their departure as cases soar in China. 

Other countries, including the United States and several European nations, imposed similar rules despite protest from China. 

Nour Alideeb and her partner are trying to decide what to do with the hundreds of dollars they're now saving on child care for their two-year-old son.

Parents are seeing their child-care fees reduced by 50 per cent, on average, as part of the federal government's early learning and childcare agreements with provinces and territories. 

For Alideeb and her family in Mississauga, Ont., that means about $700 in savings each month. 

Today marks Canada's first National Ribbon Skirt Day. 

Manitoba Sen. Mary Jane McCallum's bill to recognize the day every Jan. 4 passed in Parliament late last year.

It was inspired by Isabella Kulak, a member of the Cote First Nation in Saskatchewan who wore a ribbon skirt to her rural Saskatchewan school in December 2020, when she was 10 years old.

She wore the colourful garment, donned by Indigenous women at cultural events, as part of a formal day — but her family said at the time that a staff member told her the outfit wasn't considered formal enough.

Sunwing says it has completed all of its scheduled recovery flights to bring home passengers stranded in Mexico after winter storms disrupted its operations during the holidays.

The travel company says in a statement that its teams have worked around the clock to return its affected customers home.

Some travellers from Saskatchewan say the airline has left them at airports in other provinces, while one says her flight from Mexico made it to Regina with dozens of empty seats.

While enrolled in university, Eloho Orogun was approached on campus to apply for a $500 student credit card, advertised as a means to improve his credit score.

Met with a self-described shopping problem, it was not long before Orogun opened a second student card with a larger limit.

"The more money I had, the more debt I would get myself into," he said. 

Poor spending habits and a lack of understanding of how credit cards work led him down a debt spiral that took him seven years to break.

As 2022 comes to a close and the cost of living continues to climb, many Canadians are looking for ways to cut back on spending — and some are looking to trim down on subscriptions.

But with subscription services offered in almost every category these days, it can be hard to keep track of exactly how much you're spending on a monthly basis.

Heading into the new year, freelance journalist John Loeppky took stock of his finances and noticed a lengthy list of regular credit card charges.

“It can very easily get away from you," he said.