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News from Connect2Canada
Olympic Torch Relay
The Connect2Canada Team
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay begins on October 30th in Victoria, British Columbia. The Olympic Flame will travel by land, air and water during its 106 day journey as it visits more than 1,000 communities in our huge and diverse country. Starting tomorrow, follow the flame’s journey across Canada on an interactive map featuring daily coverage, profiles, photos and videos. More information is available at http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-torch-relay/.
Special Features
Canada Condemns Deadly Attacks on Kabul
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement today on the attacks in Kabul:
“Canada strongly condemns the violent attacks that have occurred today in Kabul, in particular the attack on the United Nations guest house that claimed the lives of several people, including United Nations employees, and injured others.
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International Students Contribute Over $6.5 Billion to Canadian Economy
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today released a study showing that international students contributed more than $6.5 billion to the Canadian economy in 2008. This is the first time a dollar figure has been attached to the economic impact of international students in Canada.
“International students provide a significant boost to Canada’s economy,” said Minister Day. “Their presence helps create thousands of jobs and generates billions in revenue. Our government will continue its efforts to promote Canada as the destination of choice for international students by enhancing outreach efforts at our missions around the world.”
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Canada Condemns the Deadly Attacks on Baghdad
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement regarding the double bomb attacks that occurred in Baghdad this morning, killing more than 130 people and wounding more than 500:
“Canada is appalled and gravely concerned by today’s two deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad, near the Justice and Foreign Affairs Government buildings, which took many innocent lives.
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International News
Canada, Portugal race for Security Council votes
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service
Portugal has rushed to beat Canada in signalling its sponsorship of a landmark United Nations salute to South Africa's Nelson Mandela — as the two countries vie for African support in their bids to win a UN Security Council seat.
Insiders say Portugal pipped Canada at the post by indicating last week it will sponsor the measure, which South Africa will table in the UN General Assembly next Wednesday.
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Canada tries to focus UN spotlight on Iran's human rights record
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service
A Canadian-led bid to focus attention on Iran's human rights record says United Nations special investigators should turn their gaze on the Islamic republic, according to a draft resolution that's expected to be unveiled Thursday.
The move by Canada and the measure's co-sponsoring governments comes amid criticism that many of UN human rights investigators spend a disproportionate amount of time probing alleged abuses in advanced democracies, while ignoring countries where the worst abuse takes place.
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Prime Minister Harper to visit Singapore, India, China
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
David Akin, Canwest News Service
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to Singapore, India and China this fall, trips observers say could generate commercial and diplomatic dividends.
Earlier, Harper's office had announced that the prime minister will be in Singapore on Nov. 14 to attend the annual leaders summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum. On Wednesday, his office said Harper will travel to India Nov. 16-18 after the APEC summit. His itinerary in India has not yet been published although it's almost certain he will visit Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in that country's capital of New Delhi. Observer say he would like also visit the country's commercial capital in Mumbai.
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Dalhousie, U of T ranked among best places for scientists
Thursday, October 29, 2009
CBC News
Two Canadian universities — Dalhousie University in Halifax and the University of Toronto — have been named to The Scientist magazine's 10 best places to work in academia outside of the U.S.
Dalhousie placed fifth on the list, while U of T squeaked in at 10th.
Dalhousie was praised for its research faculties and proximity to several hospitals in Halifax, as well as its friendly nature.
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Canada passes U.S. In gender gap survey
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Canwest News Service
Canada has moved ahead of the United States in an annual global survey that assesses the participation of women in the economic and political life of 134 countries. But Canada still ranks behind countries that have done the most to ensure that women participate fully in the upper echelons of politics and business, said the co-author of the Geneva-based World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index, released yesterday. The WEF states as a policy position that a rapid economic recovery, along with effective progress on climate change, food security, and global conflict, can't take place without the full participation of half the world's population.
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Torchbearers from Around the Globe to Visit Canada and Join the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay
Thursday, October 29, 2009
CNW Group
Fifteen well-known world citizens are adding global intrigue and excitement to the longest domestic torch relay in Olympic history by participating as Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torchbearers. The first runner kicks off the program on Nov. 1, 2009.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, presented by Coca-Cola and RBC and supported by the Government of Canada, begins this amazing Canadian journey tomorrow in Victoria, BC. On day three of the relay, a former Olympian and four-time gold medal winner, speed skater Chun Lee-Kyung from South Korea, passes the flame along the route in Tofino, BC.
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Scientist works with stem cells during day, solves Jewish genealogy riddles in spare time
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Peter Goodspeed, National Post
Dr. Karl Skorecki works on the cutting edge of molecular science, revolutionizing medicine through genetics and the use of stem cells to test anti-cancer therapies.
But as a sideline, the former University of Toronto professor has become world famous for applying genetics to genealogy and transforming history. He has found evidence to support traditional claims that modern-day Jewish priests, Cohanim, are descended from a single common male ancestor—biblically said to be Aaron, the older brother of Moses.
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Vancouver's Chinese food world's 'best'
Monday, October 26, 2009
Camille Bains, The Canadian Press
Visitors to a Chinese restaurant that's gaining a word-of-mouth fan base in Vancouver hardly notice the orangey-peach walls and black ceiling as they stand in line for a meal.
Instead, their eyes are fixed on the food being devoured by diners in the packed "hole-in-the-wall" eatery where decor has taken a back seat to good taste and value.
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Business and Trade
Doer faces festering trade woes in U.S.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Murray McNeill, Winnipeg Free Press
Gary Doer has his work cut out for him if he hopes to resolve a number of festering trade and border issues between Canada and the United States, one former ambassador said Wednesday. Frank McKenna told a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce luncheon that one of the biggest challenges Doer faces as Canada's new ambassador to the United States is getting the ear of U.S. politicians.
McKenna, who held the ambassador's job for about a year around the middle of this decade, said U.S. politicians have a lot on their minds these days.
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Canada seeks to end China canola fight without WTO
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Reuters
Canada is confident it can resolve a dispute with China over China's refusal to accept canola with blackleg disease without seeking World Trade Organization action, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Wednesday.
Ritz said he met with the Chinese ambassador to Canada on Tuesday.
"It's way too soon to (seek a WTO dispute settlement panel)," Ritz said in Ottawa. "I think we can resolve this long before a panel would be required."
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VIA plans train station building binge
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service
Canada's national passenger rail service is spending more than $40 million over the next two years for new railway stations around Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor, Ont., as well as significant upgrades to existing stations in Vancouver, Saskatoon and other cities across the country, Canwest News Service has learned.
Some of the details were revealed in a Via Rail employee newsletter released this month that provided a breakdown of new investments announced as part of the Harper government's stimulus plan.
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Une transaction historique pour Hydro-Québec
Jeudi 29 octobre 2009
Hélène Baril, La Presse
Si Hydro-Québec réussit à mettre la main sur Énergie New Brunswick, elle héritera de 370 000 clients de plus, mais, surtout, d'un accès accru au marché américain qui lui permettrait de vendre des surplus d'électricité qui risquent de s'empiler.
Un coup d'oeil à la carte des réseaux électriques du Nord-Est américain suffit pour comprendre une des motivations d'Hydro dans cette transaction historique qui verrait pour la première fois une société d'État en avaler une autre dans une province voisine.
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CSeries: opération charme à New York
Jeudi 29 octobre 2009
Marie Tison, La Presse
Bombardier Aéronautique a entrepris une campagne de séduction auprès de clients éventuels de la CSeries.
L'entreprise a organisé une rencontre à New York à l'intention des transporteurs aériens et des grandes entreprises de location d'avions pour faire le point sur sa nouvelle famille d'appareils de 110 à 130 places.
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Canadian Oil Sands seen keen for Syncrude stake
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Carrie Tait, Calgary Herald
A slice of Syncrude Canada Ltd. may soon be up for grabs, and the logical—and self-professed hungry—buyer is Canadian Oil Sands Trust, industry experts say.
ConocoPhillips Inc., which in early October said it is looking to offload about $10-billion in assets, Wednesday pinpointed its 9.03% stake in Syncrude as potential property it may put on the block.
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Canada vs. U.S.—The New Realty
Friday, October 23, 2009
Gary Marr, Financial Post
Yasmin Denner remembers the tough questions when she bought her first house in Toronto in the 1990s.
"I had 15% down but that wasn't enough. They wanted to know where I'd gotten the money from," said the self-employed IT specialist with a laugh as she recalled Canada's borrowing environment.
Flash forward 15 years. She and her husband Trevor moved to the United States, settling in the suburbs outside of Washington D.C. where they bought a relatively spacious 3,000 square foot home for their future family of three.
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Bank of Canada talks tough on rising dollar
Friday, October 23, 2009
Kevin Carmichael, Globe and Mail
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney is done with nuance. His new message for those who doubt he's prepared to weaken the dollar if Canada's recovery veers too far off track: Just watch me.
Mr. Carney used the release of the central bank's latest quarterly economic report Thursday to explain in the clearest terms yet how the currency's surge is impeding the recovery and why he will adjust policy if the loonie continues its current trajectory.
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Magna, Opel upbeat that sale with go through
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Boris Groendahl, Reuters
Top officials from Magna and Opel expressed confidence on Wednesday that General Motors will go through with selling its European arm to Canada's Magna despite a second chance to review the deal.
GM's board of directors is due to meet on Tuesday to reconsider its decision in light of assurances from Germany that 4.5 billion euros ($6.68 billion) in state aid was available to any Opel buyer — not just Magna, Berlin's favoured bidder.
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Canadian News
2010 Olympics chairman loses cancer battle
Friday, October 23, 2009
Sandra Martin, Globe and Mail
They don't come much tougher than Jack Poole, the multimillionaire Vancouver real estate developer. Yet when his pal, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, asked him to head up the city's bid for the 2010 Olympics, Mr. Poole agreed to sideline himself in the middle of a hot construction market to work gratis—and pay his own expenses—as chair of the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
“I joke that I gave him his first job and he gave me my last,” Mr. Poole said of Mr. Campbell in 2002. “I paid him $2.50 an hour (as a labourer waterproofing basements on a construction project near Smithers B.C.) and he pays me $1 a year. So who got the best deal?” he asked jokingly of the province and the city he has called home since the early 1960s.
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New hope for lung transplants
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sharon Lem, Sun Media
A Toronto doctor has found a way to regenerate damaged lungs donated for transplant, opening the door to one day triple the number of the operations in Canada and worldwide.
Normally, only 15% of lungs from deceased donors are usable because 85% are damaged during brain death and intensive-care-related complications.
About 20% of people waiting for a lung transplant die each year in Toronto.
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Extinct bison body could rewrite Canadian archaeological record
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service
The carcass of an extinct steppe bison, discovered two years ago melting out of a cliff in a remote village in the Northwest Territories, is shedding new light on the Ice Age species — and could rewrite the history of human migration in Canada as glaciers began retreating in the region nearly 14,000 years ago.
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Quebec law to butt out illegal cigarettes
Thursday, October 29, 2009
CBC News
The Quebec government has tabled legislation to clamp down on illegal cigarette smuggling and sales that cost the province an estimated $300 million annually in lost tax revenue.
Quebec Revenue Minister Robert Dutil says the proposed bill, tabled at the national assembly on Wednesday, includes 15 measures targeting producers, distributors and consumers.
"Fines will increase" for illegal sales and distribution, from an average of $3,000 to $10,000, he told CBC News.
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Citizen bird columnist receives senior achievement award
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Ottawa Citizen
Citizen bird columnist Elizabeth Le Geyt has been selected as one of 20 to receive an Ontario Senior Achievement award for her work in environmentalism.
The 95 year-old writes a weekly column that is posted on the Citizen's World of Birds web page. The site also includes photo galleries of birds mentioned.
Hundreds of avid birders and bird enthusiasts anticipate her column, which has been running for more than 35 years.
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Vanoc confident it can deliver balanced $1.75-billion budget
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun
A partial thawing of the economic freeze that gripped the world last year has Vancouver Olympic officials confident they can deliver a balanced $1.75-billion budget.
Corporate suite sales at Olympic venues have improved, billboard advertising space has sold well recently and about 15 of the ultra-exclusive $285,000 Vancouver 2010 Club packages have sold in recent weeks, Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee executive vice-president Dave Cobb said Monday.
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Canada loves the web
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Matt Hartley, Financial Post
There are a few things you'll find in just about every Canadian household: a snow shovel, at least one pair of skates and a high-speed Internet connection.
With most of the adult population on Facebook and high speed access nearly universally available, Canada has developed a reputation as one of the most Web-centric nations on the planet. Now, a new poll from Ipsos Reid shows that more than eight out of 10 Canadians (82%) have an Internet connection in their home, up 6% from the second quarter of 2009.
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Ontario cellphone ban begins
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Maria Babbage, The Canadian Press
Starting Monday, Ontario drivers will be the latest Canadians prohibited from using cellphones or BlackBerrys while behind the wheel.
Millions of motorists in the country's most populous province are banned from using any hand-held electronic devices to text, e-mail or talk while driving, except for 911 calls.
They're also forbidden from using portable video games or DVD players while chugging along. Global positioning systems are allowed, as long as they're properly secured to the dashboard.
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Opinion/Editorial
The Northwest Passage is already Canadian
Monday, October 26, 2009
Michael Byers, Globe and Mail
Like motherhood and apple pie, Arctic sovereignty is difficult to oppose.
So when Conservative MP Daryl Kramp introduced a motion on Oct. 5 to rename the Northwest Passage the “Canadian Northwest Passage,” the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois quickly jumped on board.
It's time to reconsider that move—before the motion is put to a final vote. Renaming the Northwest Passage would weaken our legal claim, offend the Inuit and contradict centuries of Canadian history.
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Targets set without a plan, and costs that are perilous
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Globe and Mail
A comprehensive climate-change analysis for Canada released today attempts to fill a vacuum of inaction. It is the wrong approach; its all-out attack on the oil and gas sector is politically and economically unacceptable, and would euthanize a vital Canadian industry. But it sharpens the focus on a question the federal government has been loath to answer. What is its plan? Does it have alternatives that are achievable, and that can demonstrably meet its greenhouse gas emission targets? If not, it is time for the government to come out and say so.
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Mixing youth and music
Monday, October 26, 2009
Toronto Star
If music is a universal language, Venezuelan children and teenagers speak with rare fluency thanks to an amazingly successful training program that deserves emulation in Canada. More than 1 million young people, many from poverty-stricken and violence-wracked barrios, have received free musical instruction since 1975 under what's called simply El Sistema (The System).
The result has been an extraordinary flowering of exceptional musicians. Even more important, it has also given thousands of vulnerable young people an alternative to a life of gangs, guns and crime.
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