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News from Connect2Canada
Presidential Inauguration—C2C Live on Twitter
The Connect2Canada Team
Follow Connect2Canada on Twitter for live updates on and before Inauguration Day, January 20th. In addition to continuous Twitter updates, we will be featuring photos and videos from the Canadian Embassy rooftop on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. as the day's events unfold. If you are planning on attending the Inauguration in person, follow Connect2Canada for important updates on security, transportation, and more. If you won't be in Washington, you can participate from the comfort of your home or on your mobile device. Stay tuned for more details!
Special Features
Statement by Minister Cannon Marking 100th Anniversary of Boundary Waters Treaty
Friday, January 09, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today released the following statement on the 100th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty:
“January 11 marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty. This treaty created the International Joint Commission, an independent regulatory and advisory body that has worked for the last century to prevent and resolve boundary waters disputes between Canada and the United States.
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Visit to California: Minister Day Reinforces the Importance of Trade Relationship with U.S. in Advance of President-elect Obama Taking Office
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, has made his first visit to the United States, in advance of President-elect Barack Obama taking office on January 20, 2009.
“We have built a strong and durable trade relationship with the United States over the years and we must continue to aggressively pursue this already robust relationship, especially during these difficult economic times,” said Minister Day.
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Government of Canada Responds to U.S. Country-of-Origin Labelling Measures
Monday, January 12, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Government of the United States of America today published its final regulations for U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL). The Government of Canada recognizes provisions in the final rule that will help to level the playing field for Canadian producers and will strengthen the integrated North American livestock industry. “I am pleased that key issues raised by Canada are addressed in these measures,” said the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway.
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International News
Obama’s first foreign visit to be Canada
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sheldon Alberts, National Post
Barack Obama will make his first foreign trip as president of the United States to Canada - restoring a long-standing tradition abandoned eight years ago by George W. Bush. Officials in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office confirmed Obama has accepted an offer to visit Canada "soon" after his Jan. 20 inauguration as America's 44th president. "We have been in close contact with president-elect Obama's transition team," said Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the prime minister's office.
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Obama's visit gives Harper chance to highlight Canada's importance as economic partner
Monday, January 12, 2009
Shawn McCarthy, Globe and Mail
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will pitch his government's proposal for a Canada-U.S. climate-change accord and urge greater economic co-operation to revive the North American economy when Barack Obama travels to Canada in his first foreign trip as U.S. president. Mr. Obama is expected to address Parliament when he visits Ottawa. The high-profile visit of the new president - who is enormously popular among Canadians and throughout the world - will give Mr. Harper an opportunity to highlight Canada's importance to the United States as both a strategic and economic partner at the outset of Mr. Obama's term in office.
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Canadian embassy hot spot for Obama's inauguration parade
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Mitch Potter, Toronto Star
On an average day, the Canadian embassy in Washington ranks as something of an afterthought in the minds of America's political elite. Important? Sure. But rarely a destination for the biggest feet hoofing the capital's corridors of power. There is nothing average about next Tuesday, however. Suddenly, the Canadian embassy is where everybody who is anybody wants to be – not least for its uniquely panoramic view of Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Ave., expected to provide the world's best vista when newly anointed President Barack Obama parades past.
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Canadians get great view of big day
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Sheldon Alberts, The Vancouver Sun
For a student of American politics and a career diplomat tasked with promoting Canada on Capitol Hill, it was privilege enough for Colin Robertson just to have a front-row seat to history for George W. Bush's second inauguration as president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2005. That Senator John McCain -- past and future Republican presidential candidate -- happened to sidle up alongside him to provide colour commentary put a welcome exclamation mark on the event. These things tend to happen at the Canadian Embassy on inauguration day.
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Pertes d'emplois aux États-Unis
Samedi 10 janvier 2009
Martin Croteau, La Presse
Les pertes d'emplois catastrophiques dévoilées hier par les États-Unis sont "troublantes" a reconnu le premier ministre Stephen Harper. Au terme d'une table ronde avec des dirigeants d'entreprise québécois, le chef conservateur a dit craindre que les problèmes économiques de nos voisins du Sud se propagent chez nous. Malgré un léger repli en décembre, le Canada s'est très bien tiré d'affaire en 2008 avec la création de 100 000 emplois, a fait valoir le premier ministre. Mais les statistiques dévoilées de l'autre côté de la frontière sont beaucoup plus inquiétantes: 2,6 millions d'Américains ont perdu leur boulot en un an. C'est le pire recul du genre depuis la Deuxième Guerre mondiale.
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Contractor hired to repair 'signature' dam in Kandahar province: diplomat
Friday, January 09, 2009
Steve Rennie, Winnipeg Free Press
A contractor has been picked to refurbish a derelict Afghan dam that has been billed as one of Canada's "signature projects" in Afghanistan, says Canada's top diplomat in Kandahar. But Elissa Golberg, the Representative of Canada in Kandahar, wouldn't name the company chosen to oversee the repair of the Dahla dam on the Arghandab River in northern Kandahar province. Golberg, who departs her post Saturday after 11 months in Kandahar, said an announcement is imminent. She declined to give an exact date. "A contractor has been identified," she said. "That information is going to be made public soon."
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Business and Trade
Canadian banks shy away from big U.S. acquisitions
Friday, January 09, 2009
Frank Pingue, Reuters Canada
Canadian banks say the time is not right to rush into large acquisitions in the United States or abroad, even though the global economic downturn has made banking assets look like relative bargains. Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest bank, Toronto-Dominion Bank, the No. 2, and Bank of Montreal, the No. 4, said on Thursday they will be cautious and patient when it comes to making any major deals, but will watch for small acquisitions that complement their businesses. They said the economic climate that has tightened credit conditions means now is not the time to unload large amounts of cash on a big purchase.
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More common sense at border predicted
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star
If you're a Canadian traveller planning a vacation south of the border or a CEO whose company depends on U.S.-bound exports, learn the name Janet Napolitano. The decisions she could be making in the coming weeks and months may well decide whether your experience at the U.S. border is smooth and efficient or a time-consuming interrogation. Napolitano is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to serve as the next secretary of homeland security, the sprawling U.S. government agency responsible for safeguarding America and its borders.
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Bush takes final swing at Arctic sovereignty
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Mike Blanchfield and Randy Boswell, National Post
In his final days in power, President George W. Bush asserted U.S. military "sea power" over the oil-rich Arctic Monday, in another forceful rebuttal of Canada's claims of sovereignty over the Northwest Passage. The White House formally released the text of a sweeping new directive on the Arctic, two years in the making, just eight days before Barack Obama is to be sworn in.
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Ranks of jobless swell in Canada
Friday, January 09, 2009
John Partridge, Globe and Mail
Deepening economic gloom cost Canada 34,400 jobs last month –12,200 more than economists had been forecasting – with the big hit coming to full-time positions, especially in construction, Statistics Canada said Friday. The unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent, the highest level since January, 2006. This is up from 6.3 per cent in November, when 70,600 jobs disappeared. In December, the creation of 36,200 part-time jobs mitigated the carnage in the full-time classification, where 70,700 jobs were cut.
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Canadians starting to save cash, shun debt
Friday, January 09, 2009
Rita Trichur, Toronto Star
Rising credit losses coupled with slowing loan growth spell a challenging year for the country's big banks. More Canadians are hunkering down and saving money, which is sparking a swell in deposits at a time when demand for some consumer loans such as residential mortgages is fading. Such trends are the reverse of recent years when Canadians racked up debt and spent freely on big-ticket items such as homes and cars.
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Ford teams with Magna to develop battery-powered electric car
Monday, January 12, 2009
Nicolas Van Praet, National Post
Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. is working with Ford Motor Co. on a new battery-powered electric car as automakers and parts companies accelerate development of new technologies beyond the traditional gasoline engine. Ford will announce at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Sunday morning that it is developing an all-electric car with Magna's help with a goal of selling them by 2011.
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Canadian News
Obama's chess master talks strategy
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Kate Hammer, Globe and Mail
Despite widely publicized resistance, Barack Obama will have to give up his BlackBerry on Inauguration Day, but will retain his e-mail address book and the 13 million addresses that formed the foundation of the campaign that won him the U.S. presidential election. The manager of the campaign, David Plouffe, has been lauded as a political chess master partly for his engineering of a 21st-century grassroots initiative anchored in the e-universe.
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Jean Pelletier, 73
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sandra Martin, Globe and Mail
Loyalty ran like blood between Jean Chrétien and Jean Pelletier from the days when they slept side by side in the dormitory of a Catholic boarding school in Trois-Rivières, Que. For decades their careers took different routes, years in which Mr. Pelletier was Mayor of Quebec City and active in national and international mayoralty associations; but, in 1991, when Mr. Chrétien was floundering as the newly-elected Leader of the Opposition, he turned to his old friend and recruited him as his chief of staff.
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Plan offers tax credit for home renovations
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Steven Chase and Brian Laghi, Globe and Mail
The Harper government has been floating the idea of a tax credit for home renovations - an idea that could deliver significant stimulus for Canada's residential construction industry in the Jan. 27 budget. Deliberations continue as Canada's premiers meet today in Ottawa to put the final touches on a budget request for Prime Minister Stephen Harper - one that sources say will include more cash for employment training, more benefits for the jobless and extra funding for infrastructure. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, meanwhile, has been conducting his own consultation on the looming budget, expected to deliver up to $30-billion in stimulus to soften an economic downturn.
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Games push Vancouver to priority position for 911 upgrade
Monday, January 12, 2009
Grant Robertson, Globe and Mail
As Canada prepares to revamp its outdated 911 emergency system, there is a push to place Vancouver at the front of the line to avoid potential embarrassments during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The federal telecom regulator is expected to announce plans for the 911 upgrade next month to let dispatchers locate cellphone calls during a crisis – an ability Canada lacks but other countries have had for years. Ottawa revealed last week it will require cellphone companies to start updating their networks by February of 2010. It is possible regulators may allow a gradual rollout across the country, given the scope of the upgrade required.
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Only in Canada
Monday, January 12, 2009
Patrick White, Globe and Mail
Work with what you got, they say. And in Winnipeg, they "got" ice. Acres of it. That's why, for the second year in a row, Winnipeg is breaking Guinness records and jabbing its mittened thumb in Ottawa's eye by scraping out the world's longest skating trail. Just call it Ice War II.
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2e journée de brrr!
Jeudi 15 janvier 2009
Radio-Canada
Il faudra attendre dimanche avant de connaître un réchauffement des températures dans l'est du pays. Les températures ont atteint des niveaux extrêmes à près de moins 45 degrés Celsius, comme à Chibougamau ce matin. À compter de vendredi, les nuits seront encore plus glaciales, particulièrement pour les régions de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue et du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean où les températures vont descendre à moins 40 degrés Celsius. Dans les provinces de l'Atlantique, les températures devraient atteindre moins 32 degrés Celsius.
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Opinion/Editorial
A fond farewell
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
David H. Wilkins, U. S. Ambassador to Canada, National Post
During the last three-and-a-half years, as I have worked in this country in the role of U. S. ambassador to Canada, Canadians have asked me hundreds of tough and interesting questions regarding the U. S.-Canada relationship, about the policies and politics that many Canadians passionately care about and are actively engaged in. From the United States' long primary and election season to the war on terror and complicated trade and financial issues, Canadians are highly educated on the issues of the day. But no matter where my travels take me across this country, the question that universally intrigues Canadians is, "What surprised you the most about Canada?"
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Obama's timely trip to Ottawa
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Toronto Star
It is a diplomatic "tradition" honoured as much in the breach as the observance. But some of America's shrewder presidents have chosen to make Canada their first official foreign destination after being inaugurated. John F. Kennedy did. So did Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. Now President-elect Barack Obama plans to do the same, thereby re-establishing a pattern George W. Bush spurned when he headed for Mexico in the early days of his presidency. It will be Obama's first opportunity abroad to signal that Washington truly is "back in the mode of listening to our friends and coordinating with our friends, as opposed to ... instructing our friends," predicts Gordon Giffin, the savvy former U.S. ambassador to Ottawa. And Obama couldn't have picked a better place to deliver that message.
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The Connect2Canada team produces NewsCan as a weekly summary of Canadian news. If you have comments or suggestions, please email us at newscan@canadianembassy.org.
The articles appearing in this newsletter have been collected from various Canadian and American news websites. Articles appear in the language in which they were published.
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