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News from Connect2Canada
Download these Canadian Songs, Mr. President
The Connect2Canada Team
CBC Radio 2 held a nation-wide vote to help select a list of the top 49 Canadian songs—a number referencing the 49th parallel—which best define the country to Barack Obama, a music listener who says he has “pretty eclectic tastes.” View the complete list.
Share Your Story on C2C
The Connect2Canada Team
Looking for ways to connect with other Canadians and friends of Canada in the United States and share your experiences? Over 400 C2C members have already submitted their personal stories. We invite you to check out our stories and also to share your own story and picture with other members. You might even be featured on the homepage or in an upcoming edition of NewsCan!
Special Features
Speech from the Throne
Monday, January 26, 2009
Government of Canada
Honourable Senators, Members of the House of Commons, Ladies and gentlemen,
In these uncertain times, when the world is threatened by a struggling economy, it is imperative that we work together, that we stand beside one another and that we strive for greater solidarity.
Today, in our democratic tradition, Canadians expect that their elected representatives will dedicate their efforts to ensure that Canada emerges stronger from this serious economic crisis.
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Budget 2009: Canada's Economic Action Plan
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Finance Canada
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today tabled a comprehensive budget plan to stimulate economic growth, restore confidence and support Canadians and their families during a synchronized global recession.
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Canada and the United States Cooperate to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
Friday, January 23, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada will contribute $10 million toward U.S. efforts to detect and secure dangerous nuclear and radiological materials in Russia and Ukraine.
“These projects, which will help prevent terrorists from acquiring dangerous nuclear and radiological materials, are fundamental to the protection of Canadian and international security,” said the Minister. “Our contribution confirms Canada’s strong partnership with the new U.S. administration to ensure North America’s security through concrete counterterrorism and nuclear non-proliferation measures.”
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International News
PM sees 'fresh start' with U.S.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star
The "unpopularity" of the Bush administration was a barrier to Canada-U.S. relations as Canadians were wary about Ottawa's dealings with Washington, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.
But Harper is predicting that this week's inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama marks a "fresh start" for relations between the two countries.
"I think that we now have a new administration that Canadians are clearly very comfortable with, at least out of the gate," Harper told the Star.
"While they have the same problems, the problems are not viewed as problems of their creation so it gives everybody a chance for a fresh start," he said.
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Obama sets date to visit Canada, renew ties
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Mike Blanchfield, Calgary Herald
U.S. President Barack Obama will pay a working visit to Ottawa on Feb. 19, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday.
"This is a testament not just to the size of our trading relationship and the closeness of our alliance, but also to the strength of our friendship, and I look forward to an important and productive working visit, "Harper told the House of Commons.
Obama and Harper spoke by telephone last week to begin crafting an agenda. As expected, the economy will top the list.
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Harper invité à suivre l'exemple d'Obama
Samedi 24 janvier 2009
Hugo De Grandpré, La Presse
Stephen Harper et Barack Obama ont eu hier matin leur première conversation téléphonique depuis la prestation de serment du nouveau président américain.
Le bureau du premier ministre a précisé par voie de communiqué que les deux chefs d'État avaient notamment discuté de la visite que doit faire M. Obama au Canada dans quelques semaines.
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Drones give Canada new edge in Afghanistan
Friday, January 23, 2009
Darah Hansen, Edmonton Journal
Canada's newest weapon in the battle against deadly roadside bombs is ready to fly into action.
The CU170 Heron unmanned aerial vehicle—or UAV—will take to the skies this week in an effort to reduce the number of insurgent attacks on troops on the ground.
The drone has the capacity to fly for more than 24 hours at a time and detect insurgent activities across a 200-kilometre range.
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Kandahar's Canadian governor gaining confidence
Friday, January 23, 2009
Darah Hansen, The Star Phoenix
As millions around the world watched a new president take office in the United States this week, Tooryalai Wesa celebrated a quiet political victory of his own at his new home in the high-ceiling splendour of the Governor's Palace.
Jan. 20 marked Wesa's one-month anniversary as governor of Kandahar province, once the idyllic backdrop of his youth, now home to about 90 per cent of the world's opium production and the birthplace of the Taliban movement.
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Business and Trade
Businesses cheer credit boost, tax cuts
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew, Toronto Star
Business groups applauded measures in the proposed federal budget to increase access to credit and cut taxes.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty pledged to make up to $200 billion in liquidity and financing available to Canadian businesses through a variety of government measures.
Under the plan, Ottawa would provide businesses with access to additional financing of $13 billion through financial Crown corporations.
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$12 billion for auto credit
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tony Van Alphen, Toronto Star
Government officials are hoping a $12 billion program aimed at freeing up automotive credit will lure customers back to dealer lots after sales went cold last month.
The government announced yesterday in its proposed budget that it plans to create the Canadian Secured Credit Facility, which will provide more funds for lenders who in turn would offer consumers and businesses better terms to borrow money and finance the purchase or lease of vehicles and equipment.
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Auto productivity gives Canada edge
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tony Van Alphen, Toronto Star
As negotiations for concessions start at reeling General Motors and Chrysler, the Canadian Auto Workers says workers at assembly plants here hold a labour cost edge over their union and non-union counterparts in the United States.
In efforts to debunk public impressions that workers will need to slash pay because of a big labour cost gap before the automakers can obtain government loans, the CAW says better productivity here gives Canadian workers a strong overall advantage over competing non-unionized employees at foreign-based automakers in the U.S.
That should limit demands for major concessions here, union leaders argue.
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Canadiens et Américains: pas si différents
Mardi 27 janvier 2009
Sébastien Templier, La Presse
Les marchés canadien et américain de l'automobile de même que les habitudes de leurs consommateurs sont-ils si diamétralement opposés que ce que l'on croit? Pas vraiment.
Les ventes de véhicules neufs aux États-Unis ont chuté de 18% l'an dernier comparativement à 2007. Au Canada, la baisse n'est que de 1,1%.
En termes d'achats, plus de la moitié des Canadiens ont opté pour des véhicules plus petits et plus économiques l'an dernier. La proportion d'Américains ayant fait ce choix est passée de 28,8% à 32,6%. La majorité n'est donc pas encore convaincue, contrairement à ici, les voitures de taille moyenne et de type familiale occupant 34,6% de parts de marché. Cependant, vu les chiffres des ventes des deux dernières années, la tendance serait en train de s'inverser.
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World: The Economy: 'Canada can't insulate itself'
Friday, January 23, 2009
Barrie McKenna, Globe and Mail
Looking through the blizzard of economic statistics, one stands above all else as a reliable barometer of where the Canadian economy is headed.
And it isn't even Canadian, it's U.S. housing starts. When a backhoe digs into the ground in Phoenix or Peoria, starting work on a new home, it sets off a chain reaction of purchases that ripples through the North American economy.
Each new home generates hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases ranging from labour, cement and lumber all the way to chandeliers and big-screen TVs.
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Canadian News
Canadian journalist receives U.S. navy award for 'heroic act'
Thursday, January 29, 2009
National Post
Believing he was receiving a military briefing in Baghdad this week, Canadian journalist Chris Jackson was awarded the U.S. navy's second-highest civilian honour—the Distinguished Public Service Award—for saving the life of a U.S. marine.
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Ontario gives wind power big push
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tyler Hamilton, Toronto Star
The McGuinty government is expected to announce today another $1.3 billion worth of renewable-energy projects, most of it wind, as part of its ongoing effort to "green" up the province's power mix, the Star has learned.
Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman and Colin Andersen, chief executive officer of the Ontario Power Authority, will reveal this morning the results of a bidding process that began in October and aims to add at least another 500 megawatts of renewable electricity to the grid.
The power authority received 38 submissions, some of them backed by native groups.
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McGuinty to take second look at harmonizing sales tax, GST
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Canadian Press, Globe and Mail
Premier Dalton McGuinty says he'll consider harmonizing the Ontario sales tax with the federal goods and services tax.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce recommended the move Thursday, saying it could save businesses $100 million a year.
Mr. McGuinty says he'll take a serious look at the proposal and other ideas that he may not have been “eager to embrace” in the past to improve the province's ailing economy.
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Tech-savvy educators opening new worlds to students via virtual classrooms
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Tamsyn Burgmann, Winnipeg Free Press
As pens and legal pads have given way to laptops in the lecture hall, professors who are usually incensed by key tapping and the annoyances of technology have gradually adjusted — or at least accepted that such gizmos are here to stay.
The most innovative of the bunch have turned the distractions of technology to their advantage.
These tech-savvy educators are transplanting the classroom into the digital realm, shifting eager students into cyber-classes and shedding teaching limitations of the past.
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Pricey Vancouver fourth on world homes list
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tiffany Crawford, Edmonton Journal
The cost of buying a home in Canada contrasts significantly from coast to coast, with some of the world's least-affordable cities on the West Coast, while some markets in Eastern Canada remain relatively inexpensive, says a survey of cities worldwide released on Wednesday.
According to the fifth annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, Vancouver sits fourth on the list of least-affordable cities in the world, with a median house price at 8.4 times the median income. That means it costs 8.4 years' average income to purchase a house. The average median in Canada was 3.5.
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NASCAR targets Canadian race fans
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Bob Duff, Windsor Star
After watching its Canadian audience increase rapidly over the past two NASCAR seasons, Michigan International Speedway will be bringing its mobile ticket office to events on this side of the border.
Organizers will visit RV shows in Windsor, Hamilton and Kitchener, Ont., and have already set up shop at the show in Toronto.
"I think there was this misnomer that all Canadians were F1 fans," speedway president Roger Curtis said. "When the Nationwide Series went to Montreal, we learned that they were just race fans. They like watching good racing of any kind."
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Opinion/Editorial
Entering a new era of Canada-U.S. relations
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Peter McKenna, The Guardian
It now looks as if U.S. President Barack Obama will be making his first official trip abroad to Canada—which has been a longstanding bilateral rule of thumb—some time around mid-February.
It remains to be seen, however, what this state visit will mean for the overall tone and tenor of Canada–U.S. relations over the next four years. Canadians often forget, though, that the United States is Canada's most significant foreign policy "problem."
Whether you label it a 'partnership', 'vassal-like', or a 'special relationship', Canada has always put considerable emphasis on its relations with the United States. But that importance has rarely been reciprocated by our American friends and neighbours.
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What 'smart power' means for Canada
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Fen Osler Hampson, Ottawa Citizen
U.S. President Barack Obama has acted swiftly to move American diplomacy into high gear with the appointment of Richard Holbrooke as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and former U.S. Senator George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. The new U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has also made it clear that U.S. foreign policy will now be directed by the State Department and not the Pentagon.
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Let's get the border working again
Monday, January 26, 2009
Michael Kergin, Ottawa Citizen
The U.S.–Canada International Boundary Commission marks its centennial this year. For the past 100 years the commission's primary responsibility has been to keep the "boundary vista… entirely free of obstruction and in proper condition." Today, the U.S.–Canada border is no longer unobstructed and its condition is less than proper.
U.S. President Barack Obama has indicated clearly that massive infusions into national infrastructure will be a central part of the stimulus program of the new administration. Accordingly, Canadian–American engagement has become even more urgent and opportune.
Over recent years, our shared border has become the subject of unprecedented attention, and not just from a security perspective. Unimpeded access for two-way trade crossing the border, amounting to close to half a trillion dollars per year, remains an economic imperative—for both countries.
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