Special Features |
International News |
Business and Trade |
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Opinion/Editorial
In this issue:
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News from Connect2Canada
500+ Things To Do
The Connect2Canada Team
Interested in checking out Canadian music, comedy, theater or sports teams in your area? Visit the C2C calendar to access over 500 upcoming events throughout the United States. Know of any local events which you would like to see on the calendar? Email us and tell us about it.
Young Canadian Raises Thousands of Dollars to Provide Service Dog for American Girl:
Ceremony Held at Embassy of Canada in Washington
The Connect2Canada Team
Five-year-old Erin Buckles of Stafford, VA suffered a stroke during her separation surgery from her conjoined twin sister and lost all function from the mid-chest down. Thirteen-year-old Canadian Keira Watters, an advocate for conjoined twins, raised over $3,000.00 in her small town of Bolton, Ontario to help Erin obtain a paws4people service dog (www.paws4people.org) that will help her with countless tasks in her everyday routine and to overcome challenging social situations. The Embassy of Canada hosted the official cheque presentation on August 21. Solomon, the black Labrador Retriever, who trained for 10 of his 12 months in the paws4prisons program, was in attendance as were Erin, Keira, their families and paws4people representatives.
Special Features
Canada invites the World Heritage Committee to send a mission to Canada to showcase Canadian leadership in conservation
Friday, August 21, 2009
Parks Canada
The Honourable Jim Prentice, Canada’s Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, today announced that the Government of Canada has officially invited experts from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) to visit Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park World Heritage Site in September.
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The Government of Canada Condemns Kandahar Bombing
Wednesday, August 25, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement on the deadly bombing that occurred in Kandahar:
“Canada strongly condemns the violent attack that occurred in Kandahar today, only days after the presidential and provincial council elections—a historic undertaking by the Afghan people.
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Canada Remains Committed to Seeking Resolution to Crisis in Honduras
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas), yesterday concluded his visit to Honduras as part of the Delegation of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of American States (OAS).
“The OAS ministerial mission went to Honduras with the intent of listening, exchanging ideas and advancing the signature of the San José Accord,” said Minister of State Kent. “Unfortunately, the conditions do not yet exist for the full approval of the Accord.
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International News
Afghan election still a success: ambassador
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Jennifer Campbell, Ottawa Citizen
We may be reading about increasing violence and election irregularities after Afghanistan went to the polls for its second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban, but Afghan Ambassador Jawed Ludin is actually feeling good about the events of the past few days.
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Ottawa man at heart of postelection storm
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Matthew Fisher, Canwest News Service
The most powerful man in Afghanistan these days may not be a Taliban insurgent, a warlord, a general or the president.
It could be a soft-spoken, good-natured, silver-haired former aide to prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
As the UN-appointed chief of the Electoral Complaints Commission, Grant Kippen of Ottawa finds himself at the centre of Afghanistan's growing postelection storm.
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Prominent Canadians praise Ted Kennedy
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Canadian Press
Prominent Canadians are lining up to praise Ted Kennedy, hailing the late U.S. senator as a lifelong ally of this country.
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney says Kennedy often shared similar viewpoints with Canadians.
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Canada presses Iran to release journalist
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News Service
Canada pressed Iran again this week to release a Canadian journalist jailed for covering the country's contentious June election.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon renewed calls for the immediate release of Maziar Bahari during a meeting Tuesday with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki.
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Peter MacKay annonce des investissements et avertit l'OTAN
Mardi 25 août 2009
Andy Blatchford, La Presse Canadienne
Le ministre de la Défense du Canada, Peter MacKay, a clairement laissé savoir, mardi, aux États-Unis ainsi qu'aux autres pays membres de l'OTAN qu'ils ne devraient pas compter sur le Canada pour l'envoi de troupes additionnelles en Afghanistan.
M. MacKay a tenu ces propos, mardi, lors d'une conférence de presse à la base militaire de Valcartier. Au même moment, on annonçait de nouvelles explosions meurtrières à Kandahar, où cinq voitures piégées ont explosé simultanément, faisant 41 morts et 66 blessés, selon un bilan de la police.
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'Ready to go fully operational'
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Ian Austin, The Province
The International Olympic Committee rolled into Vancouver Wednesday, promising to help out with a $30-million advertising shortfall for the 2010 Winter Games.
Rene Fasel, who heads the IOC's co-ordination commission, made the commitment as he wrapped up the commission's ninth and final visit to Vancouver prior to the start of the Games in February.
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Canadian military at work on pirate detector
Friday, August 21, 2009
Steven Chase, The Globe and Mail
There are no silver-bullet fixes for the hijacking threat that dogs 22,000 ships each year off Somalia but the Canadian military is trying to build a pirate detector of sorts that boosts the odds of thwarting these maritime marauders. The research arm of the Department of National Defence—a division with a $300-million budget—has been conducting trials designed to increase early detection of the tiny, high-speed boats used for pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
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Business and Trade
Buy American: Canada offers deal to resolve trade dispute
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Toronto Star
The federal and provincial governments are offering American firms "guaranteed access" to Canadian procurement contracts in return for a waiver on Buy American provisions in the U.S. economic stimulus package.
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day sent the offer—which he said was "time-limited"—to U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk in a letter obtained by The Canadian Press.
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Ex-ambassador rips U.S. trade policy
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Susan Delacourt, Toronto Star
David Wilkins, the former U.S. ambassador to Canada, regrets that his country has embraced "Buy American" provisions in the federal stimulus plan.
"I just think it's bad policy," Wilkins said yesterday during a visit to Ottawa, where he spent three years as the top U.S. representative in Canada. "It's unfortunate that this protectionist trend is continuing."
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Retail sales data signals Canada out of recession
Monday, August 24, 2009
Financial Post
Retail sales rose much more than expected in June, adding to mounting evidence that Canada is pulling out of recession.
Sales were up 1% during the month, to $34.4-billion, Statistics Canada said Monday. The increase, the fifth in the last six months, was mainly driven by higher gasoline prices, the federal agency said.
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Bank of Canada takes on soaring loonie
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Kevin Carmichael, The Globe and Mail
The Bank of Canada is stepping up its campaign to counter the ascent of the Canadian dollar.
In remarks aimed at the international investors who seek profit in foreign exchange markets, Timothy Lane, one of Governor Mark Carney's most senior advisers, sent the strongest signal yet that tougher rhetoric about the currency's rise in the last couple of months is more than a bluff.
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L'industrie se remet à voyager
Jeudi 27 août 2009
Hélène Baril, La Presse Canadienne
C'est une bonne nouvelle pour le Canada, et pour tous les pays qui font leur beurre avec les exportations. Après avoir été gelé depuis la fin de 2008, le commerce international a redémarré en juin, et à la vitesse grand V.
Le volume de marchandises échangées a augmenté de 2,5% en juin, selon les données du Netherland Bureau for Economic Policy, mieux connu sous son petit nom de CPB. Il s'agit de la plus importante augmentation du commerce mondial depuis juillet 2008.
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Housing markets recovering
Thursday, August 27, 2009
John Morrissy, The Star Pheonix
The worst is over for North America's beleaguered housing markets, with a steady stream of data out of Canada and the U.S. indicating the recovery is at hand, economists say.
"A similar pattern in both countries is unmistakenly suggesting we've not only bottomed in housing, but we're on the way back up," said TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond.
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N.B. replaces U.S. travellers with Canadians from away
Friday, August 21, 2009
Nick Moore, Times and Transcript
Canadian tourism operators were expecting to see fewer U.S. visitors this summer because of passport requirements at land border crossings. Statistics are now beginning to back those predictions up.
But tourism officials in New Brunswick say they're making up for the loss of absent American visitors, thanks to tourists from other Canadian provinces.
Statistics Canada says travel from the U.S. to Canada dropped to 1.6 million trips in June, the same month new passport requirement became official. That's a fall of 15.6 per cent compared to May.
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Canadian News
Harper stresses social welfare, economy in northern spending
Friday, August 21, 2009
Bill Curry, The Globe and Mail
From highways to harbours to housing, Stephen Harper insists his government's focus on the North goes far beyond the elaborate military operation now under way to assert Canada's Arctic sovereignty.
The Prime Minister made a series of announcements yesterday—first in the Nunavut fishing village of Pangnirtung, and later in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories—aimed at highlighting what he said is an unprecedented level of federal spending in northern communities.
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Ottawa s'attaque aux drogues synthétiques
Jeudi 25 août 2009
Ariane Lacoursière, La Presse
Le Canada ne veut plus être reconnu comme une «plaque tournante» du trafic d'ecstasy à travers le monde. Mardi, le gouvernement fédéral a annoncé la création d'une «Initiative sur les drogues synthétiques». L'initiative, pilotée par la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC), vise à enrayer la production de ces substances au pays.
«Les drogues synthétiques, comme l'ecstasy et les métamphétamines, sont de plus en plus présentes au Canada. Et les jeunes y sont plus vulnérables. Nous voulons nous y attaquer», a déclaré le ministre de la Sécurité publique, Peter Van Loan.
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Flashpoint nabs a record 19 Gemini nods
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Cassandra Szklarski, Canadian Press
Flashpoint, the slick Toronto-set crime drama that airs on both sides of the border, heads into this year's Gemini Awards with a record 19 nominations, while the sexy period drama The Tudors follows with 11 nods and the rookie dramedy Being Erica has snagged nine.
The stellar haul for Flashpoint caps a remarkable first season for the ensemble series, which debuted on CTV and CBS last summer and helped usher in a string of high-profile Canadian dramas that subsequently found broadcast deals in the United States.
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Bay of Fundy among 7 Natural Wonders finalists
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Douglas Hamilton, National Post
Canada’s Bay of Fundy is among 14 finalists in a global internet vote next year to choose the 7 wonders of the natural world, organisers said on Tuesday.
The Dead Sea also made the list. It was almost eliminated from the contest (www.new7wonders.com) earlier this year when Middle East politics blocked their required cooperation, but a last-minute compromise allowed the candidacy to proceed to the next stage. The famously salty lake is shared by Israel, Jordan and the occupied West Bank.
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Ottawa teacher swims all five Great Lakes, the second person to do so
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Canwest News Service
Ottawa teacher Paula Stephanson completed her marathon swim of Lake Michigan on Monday, becoming only the second person, after famed Canadian swimmer Vickie Keith, to swim all five Great Lakes. The 56-kilo-metre crossing from Chicago to a beach near the Michigan-Indiana state line took 25 hours and 38 minutes. The 30-year-old woman, pictured, said what worries her the most on marathon swims are the things beyond her control.
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Eat some cheese: Canadians are much more than cheddar people
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Karen Hawthorne, National Post
When it comes to cheese, Canadians have always loved their cheddar, a cheese expert says. But over the last 15 years or so, that's changed, with a growing interest in tasting homegrown artisanal cheeses—smoked Gouda from Ivanhoe, Ont., rich and creamy Danish-style Borgonzola with its blue-veined body from Arla Foods, and the semi-soft, buttery Oka, named after the village of Oka, Que., where it originated.
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Facebook makes privacy changes
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Joanna Smith, Toronto Star
Facebook has agreed to change some of its privacy policies in response to criticism from a Canadian watchdog over how much personal information it was keeping on file and sharing with third-party application developers.
The changes, such as altering language in its privacy policy, will take place within the next month or so. More complicated technical changes will take up to a year.
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Opinion/Editorial
Care and profit
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Peter Foster, Financial Post
Dr. Robert Ouellet, outgoing president of the Canadian Medical Association, which held its annual meeting this week, quoted—or rather slightly misquoted—Emerson: "The first wealth is health."
A bit bland really, especially since Emerson lived before socialized medicine. Better insight into what makes medical care such a contentious topic—from the anathema of "two-tiers" in Canada to the battle over ObamaCare south of the border—comes from putting Woody Allen together with Adam Smith.
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Le dernier des Kennedy
Jeudi 27 août 2009
Mario Roy, La Presse
Des trois « grands » Kennedy, le plus jeune sera-t-il celui qui laissera l'héritage réel le plus substantiel et le plus solide? C'est probable. Il est vrai qu'Edward M. Kennedy, le sénateur, le vieux lion, l'oncle Ted, aura pu jouir de ce dont les deux aînés, John et Robert, ont été tragiquement privés: la longévité.
Ted Kennedy est mort à l'âge de 77 ans.
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