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Morning radar: Three things we're talking about this morning
Toronto the unhappy: A study conducted by the Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards has found that despite having the country's largest GDP and population, the megacity ranks lowest on the happiness scale.
The study used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey for 2007 and 2008 to determine the happiness of various regions of Canada and the factors which contribute to the variation, according to this Yahoo! Canada piece.
While Toronto came in at the bottom of the list (Sherbrooke, Que., was at the top), Toronto scored a 4.15 out of 5 on the happiness scale while Sherbrooke scored a 4.37. So, citizens in the happiest city were only about 5.5 per cent happier than in the least contented, the Yahoo! piece pointed out.
Toronto boosters spent the weekend stewing and writing critiques and commenting on forums.
What do you think? Are big cities just more likely to be miserable? Share your thoughts on the ranking in the comment field below.
We need a name, pronto: Toronto mom-to-be Rommy Alpinelli has turned to Facebook to name her baby daughter, who was due this past weekend.
So far more than 1,000 people have voted in an online poll, which was created by the Toronto-based company FabFind, according to the Montreal Gazette. Some of the suggestions thus far? Sadira-Sagitarius -or Raija or Eudaimonia.
Thankfully, those aren't among the top contenders: Aria, Melania, Aubrey, Sophia and Parsia happen to have trended better on the poll. She had asked for unique, feminine names.
Years of working as a supply teacher have brought her face-to-face with too many common names, she said.
"I guess I was a little bit nervous at the beginning because I thought, 'What if they come up with a name I don't like?' But then I was thinking that people are not going to vote for name that's not nice," Alpinelli told a reporter. "And so far, so good."
What name would you vote for?
About time: Health Canada announced today that it's banning lead in kids toys. Wait: We thought it was already banned.
Well, not really. Turns out there have been minimum limits of lead content all along. And the new regulations still set new, lower limits that make Canada's rules the most stringent in the world, according to the Vancouver Sun.
The new regulations, to be announced today by Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and published before the end of the year, will limit the lead content in toys intended for children under three years of age to 0.009 per cent.
The same limit will be applied to products other than kitchen utensils that come into contact with the mouth, such as soothers, baby bibs, straws and drinking spouts, according to the Vancouver Sun piece. By comparison, the United States has a limit of 0.03 per cent total lead on all products intended for children age 12 and under, to be reduced to 0.01 per cent next August.
And the new rules won't mean children's products with high levels of lead won't make their way here, either. The legal limit for lead content in jewelry designed for or marketed to children under 15 years is 0.06 per cent, a limit set five years ago.
But Health Canada tests continue to show items made of almost pure lead are sold in Canada.
Parents, does this make you feel any better about the risk of lead in your kids' toys?