The Toronto Star ran an article today about the use of additives in wine. Clearly it is hard for a consumer to distinguish which wines have additives and which wines do not – we are going to have to rely on our retailers like the LCBO to do effective screening. However, one solution is to mandate the labeling of additives. I’m not sure if this will ever happen, but it would be a good thing.

Have you shopped around for car insurance the last time it was up for renewal? By shopping around, a lot of people can save some money. Recently my friend used the Kanetix site to look for the best insurance for a new driver. However, I’ve always noticed that insurance offered by that site were notoriously overpriced – even after “comparing” between multiple competitors. I sent him to a number of direct insurer sites and sure enough, he found a quote $155 dollars a month lower than the price offered by a Kanetix partner. I have never seen a quote by Kanetix offering competitive rates.

Try it yourself, compare Kanetix quotes with these insurers:

• CAA
• Belair Direct
• Meloche Monnex
• Cooperators
• Allstate

A lot of my friends do not have a family doctor and they are not alone. The province introduced a new service this week to help people find family doctors. Called Health Care Connect, it’s a phone service that will use a nurse at a Community Care Access Centre to help them find a physician or nurse practitioner. The number is 1-800-445-1822.