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Special Features
PM heralds stronger cooperation with China
Friday, December 04, 2009
Office of the Prime Minister
Speaking to the Canada China Business Council today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that four new Canadian commercial offices are now open for business in China. This makes Canada’s trade network there one of its largest anywhere in the world. The Prime Minister also announced that Canada is investing in 19 new clean technology projects under the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, including 14 projects in China.
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PM announces G-20 leaders will meet in Toronto in 2010
Monday, December 07, 2009
Office of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that Toronto will host the G-20 Summit on June 26 and 27, 2010. The Prime Minister made the announcement with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak during their meeting today in Seoul. At the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh this past September, the two leaders announced that each country would host a G-20 Summit in 2010. Canada will host world leaders at the Toronto Summit in June 2010 and a second G-20 Summit will be held in Seoul, Korea, in November.
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PM welcomes full market access for Canadian beef exports to Hong Kong
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Office of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that Canada has regained full access for Canadian beef to the key export market of Hong Kong following a meeting with Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
“Achieving full access to an important market such as Hong Kong sends a strong signal to the entire Asia-Pacific region that Canadian beef is safe and that Canada’s food safety systems are grounded in sound science,” said the Prime Minister. “This deal is further proof that our Government is expanding trade so that our farmers can sell to more customers in the international market.”
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International News
Stephen Harper visite la zone démilitarisée entre les deux Corées
Lundi 07 décembre 2009
La Presse
Le premier ministre Stephen Harper s'est rendu, lundi, à la zone démilitarisée d'une largeur d'environ quatre kilomètres qui sépare la Corée du Nord de la Corée du Sud.
Accompagné de plusieurs dignitaires et de nombreux soldats armés, le premier ministre a visité un petit immeuble bleu appartenant aux Nations unies et qui se trouve à cheval sur la frontière entre les deux pays.
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Journalist Amanda Lindhout returns to Alberta
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Canwest News Service
Freed journalist Amanda Lindhout is back on Canadian soil, a family spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Sarah Geddes said that Ms. Lindhout — who was held captive for 15 months in Somalia with Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan — returned to Alberta with her parents Wednesday.
"The family will provide further updates when they are ready and we ask the media to respect their continued wish for privacy until such a time," Ms. Geddes said in a statement.
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Nelly Furtado, Barenaked Ladies headline 2010 Games Victory Ceremonies lineup
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games unveiled today the lineup of top Canadian acts who will perform at the Games during nightly Victory Ceremonies in downtown Vancouver.
The 12 headliners, which include Nelly Furtado, Barenaked Ladies, Loverboy, and Hedley, are part of the Vancouver 2010 concert series, presented by Bell, and will perform for one night each from February 14 to 26 inside BC Place during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, according to a news release.
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Le pari asiatique du premier ministre
Mardi 08 décembre 2009
Malorie Beauchemin, La Presse
Face à une reprise économique qui s'annonce lente en Europe et aux États-Unis, le premier ministre Stephen Harper juge que la diversification des marchés d'exportation canadiens passe par l'Asie.
« Ce qu'on voit dans l'économie globale actuellement, c'est que nous avons toutes les raisons de croire que les marchés européen et américain, qui étaient nos marchés traditionnels, auront des croissances plus lentes pendant un certain temps, a souligné M.Harper, hier à Séoul. Ça rend plus importante que jamais une diversification vers l'Asie pacifique. »
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Cheaper drugs from Canada may end
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Lee-Anne Goodman, Telegraph-Journal
An attempt by a North Dakota senator to give Americans the right to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada could be on life support despite President Barack Obama's onetime support of the idea.
An amendment to the health-care reform bill currently before the U.S. Senate would have allowed the reimportation of American-manufactured prescription drugs back into the United States at far lower prices — most of them from Canada. The proposal has the bipartisan support of more than 30 lawmakers in a country where citizens pay among the highest prices for prescription drugs than anyone else in the world.
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Rethinking Green: Eat global, not local
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Kevin Libin, National Post
At the annual convention of the North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Association in Calgary a couple of years ago, organizers offered a seminar entitled "The New Classic: Creating an upscale urban farmers' market with down-home country Chutzpah." For years, local farmers' markets weren't anything you'd hazard to call "upscale," but the rise of the local food movement and the best-selling environmental-soul books, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The 100-Mile Diet, has made buying locally grown, rather than well-travelled food, as trendy these days among the eco-yuppie crowd as hybrid Lexuses and Baby Planet strollers.
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Provinces exploring way to bypass N.B. grid
Thursday, December 10, 2009
John Lewandowski, The Canadian Press
Concerns over access to the lucrative and energy-hungry markets south of the border have led Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to consider alternative ways of shipping electricity that would bypass New Brunswick, Premier Darrell Dexter said Wednesday.
The two provinces are worried the proposed sale of NB Power to Hydro-Québec could prevent them from shipping electricity from a potential hydro project in Labrador and tidal power from the Bay of Fundy through New Brunswick.
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Business and Trade
Canadian exports jump on U.S. demand
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tavia Grant, Globe and Mail
Canada rebounded to a trade surplus in October as strong U.S. demand bolstered exports.
The country swung to a surplus of $428-million in the month after September's deficit was revised to $850-million, Statistics Canada said Thursday. It was the first surplus since June, and comes after the deficit hit a record in August.
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RIM signs deal to peddle BlackBerry in China
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Omar El Akkad, Globe and Mail
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM-T65.371.973.11%) is betting big on the world's biggest cellphone market.
The Canadian smart phone powerhouse has signed a deal with Hong Kong-based IT firm Digital China to distribute BlackBerrys in China.
"Business partnerships are an important aspect of RIM's strategy and Digital China's extensive knowledge and market presence will further expand the opportunity for RIM in China," RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in a statement.
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Le marché du travail au coeur de la reprise
Samedi 05 décembre 2009
Rudy Le Cours, La Presse
La vitalité et la robustesse de la reprise américaine reposeront en bonne partie sur la volonté des entreprises d'embaucher. Cette même volonté déterminera en bout de piste l'amplitude de la croissance canadienne. Or, les prévisionnistes sont loin d'être au diapason sur cette question centrale, comme en fait foi le quartet de spécialistes interviewés par La Presse pour la 34e édition des Boules de cristal.
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Canada adds 79,000 jobs in November
Friday, December 04, 2009
Financial Post
The Canadian economy gained a surprising 79,000 jobs in November, with the unemployment rate easing 0.1 percentage points to 8.5%, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
"Almost all the employment growth in November was attributable to the service sector (up 73,000), especially educational services," the federal agency said.
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Terrane targets 2012 start for major new B.C. mine
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun
Terrane Metals is anticipating a summer start on site preparation for its $915-million Mount Milligan copper-gold project, which is emerging as the first major mine to be developed in British Columbia in a decade.
Terrane crossed its final major hurdle last week when federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced that the Mount Milligan project “is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.”
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Home construction at year high in November
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Financial Post
Housing starts rose to the highest level in a year last month, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, although they were still below expectations.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of home construction reached 158,500 units in November, up from 157,400 units the previous month, CMHC said Tuesday.
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Toyota adds second Woodstock shift
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Greg Keenan, Globe and Mail
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TM-N83.85-0.17-0.20%) will hire more than 800 workers and add a second shift of production at its plant in Woodstock, Ont., providing another shot in the arm for the Ontario economy and another sign that a recovery in the battered auto sector is under way.
The plant will double production of RAV4 crossover utility vehicles to 150,000 a year beginning in March amid a rebound in demand for the vehicles in the U.S. market, which is the destination for about 80 per cent of the factory's output.
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Why Tims' stale stock could be a sweet deal
Thursday, December 10, 2009
John Heinzl, Globe and Mail
People still line up for their daily Tim Hortons fix. But lately, you don't see anyone queuing up to buy the stock.
Nearly four years after the much-hyped initial public offering of Canada's beloved doughnut chain, something strange has happened: In the middle of a raging stock market rally, Tims' shares have gone staler than a day-old Dutchie.
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Canadian News
Manitoba to announce wildlife protection region on Hudson Bay
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Bruce Owen, Winnipeg Free Press
Premier Greg Selinger is to announce Wednesday that Manitoba is to set aside a huge part of the Hudson Bay coastline and lowlands as a protected area.
The vast area, known as the Kaskatamagan Sipi and Kaskatamagan Wildlife Management Areas, is home to polar bears, beluga whales, bearded seals and ringed seals, numerous bird species and coastal caribou.
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Messier to be Canadian GM for worlds: Report
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Canwest News Service
Mark Messier will take on the general manager's duties for Canada's entry at next spring's world hockey championship, according to TSN.ca.
The website reported early Tuesday that according to its sources, Messier will be handed the reins to the team this week. Hockey Canada has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to announce the team's general manager.
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Enquête de l'Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec — De villes en culture
Jeudi 10 décembre 2009
Frédérique Doyon, Le Devoir
La culture a récolté un peu plus d'un demi-milliard de dollars des municipalités du Québec en 2007. Elle accapare 5,1 % de toutes les dépenses municipales. Ce sont les premiers résultats d'une enquête que l'Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec (OCCQ) entend mener chaque année sur les dépenses culturelles de toutes les municipalités de la province.
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Stranded tundra swan makes late-season 'migration' to B.C.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Global News
A tundra swan left behind in Edmonton during the annual migration nearly two months ago is finally settled into the warmer climate of Canada's West Coast.
The swan arrived at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton on Oct. 16 with a fractured left wing after being discovered in a field not far from the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
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Knocking back the nog, a nod to tradition
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Misty Harris, Canwest News Service
Canadians will consume more than eight million litres of eggnog this holiday season — enough to fill around 180 domestic swimming pools — if purchase volumes match those of 2008, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
Packing 19 grams of fat per cup, and the caloric value of a bacon cheeseburger, it's no wonder a dude whose midriff shakes "like a bowl full of jelly" has come to symbolize the season. But a Canadian food anthropologist says our willingness to imbibe these, and other, liquid feasts has less to do with appeasing taste buds than acquiescing to tradition.
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Chantal Kreviazuk: just famous enough
Monday, December 07, 2009
Ashante Infantry, Toronto Star
With her rocker husband, bicoastal lifestyle and erstwhile spokesmodel and screenwriting gigs, singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk has never been wallflower material, but the title track of her current album, Plain Jane, speaks to her desire for normalcy.
"When you're young, it's overwhelming," said the Winnipeg native of being in the spotlight with her husband, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida, early in their marriage in the late '90s.
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Une invitation à redécouvrir l’Acadie
Mardi 08 décembre 2009
Sylvie Mousseau, LAcadie Nouvelle
Invitation à redécouvrir l'Acadie, des villes et villages, des terres et forêts, de la mer et des côtes, le premier atlas littéraire, Paysages imaginaires d'Acadie, très coloré, apporte un nouvel éclairage à l'œuvre de six écrivains acadiens marquants.
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Opinion/Editorial
Watch this region’s athletes go for Winter Olympics gold
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Lynn Haddrall, The Record
Paralympian Darda Sales was nine when she swam at a competition with a borrowed cap and goggles.
“That swim meet was the scariest and most important event of my entire life,” she recently told a room full of young women. “At nine, I decided that I, too, wanted to represent my country at the Paralympics some day.”
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Acheter sans se faire piéger
Jeudi 10 décembre 2009
Ariane Krol, La Presse
La loi 60, adoptée à Québec la semaine dernière, n'a pas fait grand bruit. Elle mérite pourtant d'être soulignée, car elle renforce l'actuelle Loi sur la protection du consommateur de façon importante.
Ce sont les clients du cellulaire qui en profiteront le plus. Un contrat qui vous lie pour deux ou trois ans et vous engage pour plusieurs milliers de dollars doit être limpide et exempt de mauvaises surprises. Hélas, les fournisseurs de sans-fil n'ont pas toujours été à la hauteur de ces attentes. Les clients et les groupes de défense de consommateurs s'en plaignent depuis des années. Ils ont enfin été entendus: la nouvelle loi élimine plusieurs sources d'insatisfaction.
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We can’t abandon farmers to economic insecurity
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Lilian Schaer, Guelph Mercury
It’s been about a year since we were plunged into financial crisis and economic uncertainty. In response, governments in many countries, including Canada, went to unprecedented lengths to protect jobs, stimulate growth and reassure nervous citizens.
Here at home, signs of recovery are emerging. We see the economic action plan at work in our communities and every one of us is now a proud part owner of an automaker. But there’s one sector that still desperately needs support – one that is just as important and just as significant as cars, roads or bridges. And that’s agriculture.
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