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Zoom allows personal trainer Mara Seipp-Katz to help clients get through pandemic shutdowns

Mara Seipp-Katz

By MYRON LOVE It was one of the lowest points in Mara Seipp-Katz’s life.
The date was March 12, 2020. The personal trainer had just returned with her family from a visit to Israel only to learn that the gym she was contracting out of in Calgary was closed until further notice due to the Covid outbreak.

“We went straight into isolation as soon as we got back,” recalls the daughter of retired Winnipeg high school teacher Al Katz and Jacqueline Seipp, founder of One More Candle. “This was the first time in my life that I felt such anxiety. I didn’t know what I was going to do or how I was going to be able to work if I couldn’t work with my clients on a face-to-face basis.”
It took her a few days to pull herself together. “I realized that a lot of people still needed me,” she says. “Then one of my clients suggested that we try Zoom. I knew nothing about it, but I figured I would give it a try.”
“It worked out just fine. It is amazing how many new doors it opened for me. I have clients not only across western Canada but also in the United States now.”

The irony for Seipp-Katz – who was nominated in late 2019 as one of Calgary’s top five personal trainers – out of a field of more than 1,000 – is that, until roughly 17 years ago, she was a self-described couch potato. “I hated gym class,” says the Kelvin High School graduate who grew up in River Heights.
Nor was she interested in group sports.
What led to her change in attitude, she says, is that she loves challenging herself and found a way to make weight training and gym workouts fun. “I learned about a fitness facility that provided personal training,” she recounts. “It was hard work – but I found my calling.”

According to her Push Performance website, she trained for three years with an elite level personal trainer in Winnipeg, as well as training with CFL and NHL professional athletes. She developed a comprehensive knowledge base of personal training techniques for all skill levels. The main focus of this training was for sport specific strength and conditioning.
Later, while living first in Kelowna, then Victoria, she focused on gaining expertise in core strength, injury prevention, dynamic fitness, cardiovascular endurance, Olympic lifts, power movements, and muscular strength.
She notes that she has completed the Fitness Theory and Weight Training course with BCRPA, the Personal Training course with BCRPA, and the internationally recognized National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer program.
Covid and Zoom led her to expand her own business – Push Performance – and – last spring – to move back to Winnipeg from Calgary where she had been living for the past seven years, contracting out of one of the city’s top boutique fitness facilities.. (She had previously been living and working as a personal trainer in Victoria for ten years.)
“It was a seamless move coming back here,” she notes. “I think it was beshert. During Covid, I wanted to be back with my family.
”After 17 years away, I am seeing Winnipeg with new eyes.”

She notes that she works with people of all ages. “Among my specialties is helping clients get started and weight loss,” she observes. “For my senior clients, the goal is to keep them moving so that they can continue to function in relatively good health.”
Seipp-Katz reports that her Zoom sessions with clients generally range from 45 to 60 minutes. She points out that her clients don’t need a lot of gym equipment around the house – although a pair of dumbbells would be a good start.
“For fitness and weight training, I can work with stairs and whatever people have around the house,” she says.
Her role is to demonstrate the exercises and explain how they are done. “I also work at providing motivation for my clients to keep at it,’ she adds.
Every client receives a personalized regimen. “I work with every client based on his or her needs and abilities,” she points out. “Wherever possible, I try to make the exercises fun.”
“I find what I do – helping people keep fit – to be very rewarding. I have built special relationships with many of my clients. They inspire me.”
Mara is in no hurry to go back to the gym.
Interested readers can contact Seipp-Katz at www.pushperformance.net.
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Features

Technology and innovation: how online casinos are adapting to players

There has currently been a significant increase in demand for online casinos in Canada due to the convenience and ease of access offered to players. With recurring technological advances and the constant search for innovation, online casino operators are striving to meet players’ growing expectations. Below, we’ll explore how online casinos in Canada are aligning themselves with technology and innovation, from the variety of games to attractive offers such as welcome bonuses and promotions to constantly adjusting to players’ needs.

Online gaming offers

Offering a wide range of games to suit players’ preferences is one of the main focuses of online casinos in Canada. In other words, operators are always looking to expand their collection of games to ensure a variety that caters to everyone, from the classics like backjack and roulette to slot releases and live casino games. What’s more, many online casinos are teaming up with famous game developers to offer high-quality, immersive experiences.

The commitment to providing an extensive selection of games tailored to diverse player preferences is a cornerstone of online casinos in Canada. This commitment manifests in continual efforts to expand the game library, ensuring a comprehensive assortment that appeals to a broad spectrum of players. Collaborations with renowned game developers further enhance the gaming experience, offering players access to high-quality, immersive gameplay across various genres, from classic favorites like blackjack and roulette to cutting-edge slot releases and live casino offerings.

Attractive bonuses and promotions

Online casinos in Canada often offer generous welcome bonuses to attract new players and reward existing ones. Bonuses can usually include free spins and extra cash, giving players the opportunity to explore casino games without using their own money at first. In addition, casinos can also give extra bonuses on subsequent deposits, loyalty programs and temporary promotions to keep players engaged.

A hallmark of online casinos in Canada is the generous incentives they offer to both new and existing players. Welcome bonuses, comprising complimentary spins and bonus cash, serve as enticing invitations for newcomers to explore the diverse offerings without financial risk. Moreover, ongoing bonuses on subsequent deposits, loyalty programs, and temporary promotions serve to maintain player engagement and reward loyalty within the platform’s ecosystem.

Gaming experience on mobile devices

Withthe increasing use of mobile devices, online casinos in Canada understand the importance of providing an optimized mobile gaming experience. Many operators use specific apps for iOS and Android devices, enabling players to access their favorite games anytime, anywhere. Online casinos are looking to adapt responsive designs on their websites to ensure an increasingly personalized usability experience on smartphones and tablets, without compromising the features and quality of the games.

Player security and privacy

Certainly one of the priorities for online casinos in Canada is player security and privacy. Operators implement and optimize increasingly robust security measures, such as SSL encryption and advanced firewalls, to guarantee the protection of players’ personal and financial data. Online casinos in Canada operate under regulated licenses, which guarantees compliance with the strictest security and integrity standards.

High-quality entertainment

Online casinos in Canada have often strived through the use of technology and innovation to adapt to the needs of players in a very competitive and constantly evolving market.

Providing a wide variety of games, good attractions and guaranteeing high security standards. Operators are definitely providing players with a fully personalized and immersive experience in the world of online casinos, as well as improving the experience for mobile devices and the convenience of playing at any time.

Online casinos in Canada continue to thrive and attract players looking for high-quality entertainment as well as exciting opportunities to win.

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Features

How to Protect Your Finances When Playing in Online Casinos 

Online casinos are a thrilling form of entertainment that a lot of adults enjoy in their free time. While it can be a great way to kick back and relax, it’s also important that you’re safeguarding your finances too. From the risk of gambling to cyber attacks and scams, here are some simple guidelines to follow that can help to ensure the safety of your money, so you can fully enjoy your favourite casino games. 

Choose Good Quality Casinos

This is the only way you can fully safeguard your finances. Choosing a reputable online casino that is fully licensed and regulated is crucial. Not only does this ensure that the casino is running legally and adhering to strict standards, but also the protection of your personal and financial information. Reading online reviews can be a great way to decipher the quality of a casino. Previous customers can tell you about any issues they’ve experienced, as well as providing insight into other aspects, such as customer service or the user-friendliness of the platform. 

A good quality casino will also have an impact on your experience. Be sure to look out for a wide variety of games and check out the different promotions and bonuses that a casino offers. With some bonuses, you can get spins on your favourite games. Taking advantage of bonuses and promotions can be a great way to safeguard your finances too. Instead of using your own money, you can use promotional funds to try out new games and experiment with different strategies. Just be aware that most promotions and bonuses come with wagering requirements, so make sure to read the terms and conditions before signing up. 

Protect Yourself

Another important factor of protecting your finances when playing in online casinos is learning how to protect yourself. This is essential for any online activity. When creating any online account, make sure to use strong and unique passwords. It’s also essential to never share this information with anyone else. Be aware and learn how to identify scams. Usually, if an offer is too good to be true, it usually is. In particular, be aware of phishing attempts and scams landing in your email inbox. It’s all about protecting yourself, like you would take supplements to aid your fitness, in this case, you apply yourself with knowledge to protect yourself and keep safe online. 

When depositing and withdrawing money, make sure to only use secure payment methods, this could include cryptocurrency, credit/debit cards or Apple Pay for example. You should use casinos that offer encrypted transactions. These precautions are essential when it comes to reducing the risk of your financial information falling into the wrong hands.

Gamble Responsibly

And finally, it’s not just about protecting yourself through security measures, it’s also important to be sensible with your money too. Gambling responsibly is essential when it comes to safeguarding your finances. A good way to do this is by setting limits and creating a budget for yourself. This will help to prevent you from overspending. 

Set limits for yourself in terms of how much money you are willing to spend and stick to these limits. Avoid chasing losses and never gamble with money that you can’t afford to lose. Make use of the deposit limit feature that most online casinos offer. If you ever find that you’re struggling, then it’s important to seek help and support. A lot of online casinos will be able to offer support and links to organisations that can help you. Gambling should always be a fun activity and nothing else. It’s definitely not a way to make money or solve financial problems.

In summary, these simple guidelines can help you to safeguard your finances when playing online. Remember that it’s not just about security, it’s also about being responsible with your money too. However, by choosing good quality casinos, learning how to protect yourself and gambling responsibly, you can enjoy your experience, all while ensuring your money stays safe. 

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Features

Kosher agencies make no bones about ‘flawed’ Canadian slaughter laws

oung Jewish children watch the Kaparot ceremony before Yom Kippur in September 2010 in Ashdod, Israel. Credit: ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock.

“When the Jewish community is being treated differently than other communities in Canada because of our religious beliefs, that is discrimination,” said Richard Rabkin, managing director of the Kashruth Council of Canada.

By DAVE GORDON (March 15, 2024 / JNS) Two kosher certifying agencies and two meat processors have a big beef with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which suddenly changed the rules and made kosher slaughter a longer and more burdensome procedure.

CFIA has begun in recent months to enforce regulations it enacted in 2018 “with vigor,” Rabbi Saul Emanuel, executive director of Montreal Kosher, told JNS. It appears to be doing so “on a whim,” the rabbi said.

The government agency’s actions have already resulted in a 60% drop in domestic kosher meat production, facility closures, higher prices and larger shipments of imported meats from other countries, according to Emanuel.

An independent organization that oversees Canadian slaughter procedures, CFIA mandates that cows be shot in the head with a bolt gun, to avoid causing pain to the animal. Kashrut laws require that an animal be killed with a single, rapid motion with a sharp knife that instantly kills the animal by severing the primary blood supply to the brain. Kosher laws preclude the use of bolts, as Canadian law requires. 

CFIA requires that Jewish ritual slaughterers conduct a series of bodily checks in between each shechita to ensure that the animal is “insensible,” which means that slaughter houses must wait up to three minutes rather than 15 seconds between each slaughter. At an industrial scale, the three minutes add up.

Emanuel’s employer MK, the Kashruth Council of Canada in Toronto—known as COR—and the country’s two largest kosher meat producers, Shefa Meats and Mehadrin Meats, sued CFIA on March 8.

The plaintiffs allege that the government agency infringes on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of religious practice, according to Richard Rabkin, managing director of the Kashruth Council.

“I don’t want to speculate about the motivations of the CFIA and we have no indications that antisemitism is at play here, but when the Jewish community is being treated differently than other communities in Canada because of our religious beliefs, that is discrimination,” Rabkin told JNS.

‘Discrimination by effect’

Rabkin told JNS that the ideal would be a negotiated solution, and the four entities opted to sue only as a last resort and because the agency is independent and unbeholden to elected officials.

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