Special Features |
International News |
Business and Trade |
Canadian News |
Opinion/Editorial
In this issue:
and much more…
News from Connect2Canada
C2C Podcast: Ensuring the Security of the 2010 Winter Games
The Connect2Canada Team
Ward Elcock, Coordinator for 2010 Winter Olympics and G8 Security, joins us to discuss the approaches that Canada is taking to ensure these Games will be safe and secure.
Listen.
Special Features
Government of Canada shows Leadership and Partnership on Clean Energy Initiatives
Monday, December 14, 2009
Enivornment Canada
The Honourable Jim Prentice, Canada’s Environment Minister today joined with the U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and other members of the Major Economies Forum (MEF), to welcome the release of the Technological Action Plans (TAPS) and the launch of the Climate Renewable and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (REDI) Program.
Climate REDI is a new U.S.-led initiative that will advance the MEF Global Partnership. Its overall goal is to promote new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions among MEF countries, complementing existing bilateral and multilateral energy efficiency and clean energy technology programs.
Read the full story
Canada Becomes a Founding Member of the Global Research Alliance On Agricultural Greenhouse Gases
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Enivornment Canada
The Government of Canada has joined an international network as a founding member of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases to drive agricultural research that will deliver practical benefits for both the environment and Canadian farmers.
“By developing new ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural activities, this Government is working to help Canadian farmers to continue to show leadership and share their best practices,” said Environment Minister Jim Prentice.
Read the full story
PM welcomes the Olympic Flame to Parliament Hill
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Office of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today welcomed the Olympic Flame to Parliament Hill as thousands gathered to celebrate the passage of the Olympic Torch Relay through the National Capital Region. He was joined by Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Michael Chambers, President of the Canadian Olympic Committee, and from the National Capital Commission, Russell Mills, Chair of the Board and Marie Lemay, Chief Executive Officer.
Read the full story
International News
Gary Doer chargé de redorer le blason du Canada
Jeudi 17 décembre 2009
Joël-Denis Bellavance, La Presse
Devant l'avalanche de critiques qu'il encaisse jour après jour à Copenhague, le gouvernement Harper a décidé d'envoyer au front le nouvel ambassadeur du Canada aux États-Unis, Gary Doer, pour défendre ses intentions en matière de lutte contre les changements climatiques.
M. Doer, qui était premier ministre néo-démocrate du Manitoba avant de devenir ambassadeur, est allé sur plusieurs tribunes pour affirmer que le Canada a des « cibles ambitieuses » de réduction de ses émissions de gaz à effet de serre et qu'il est injustement critiqué.
Lire en détail
University recruiters in China to attract students to Canada
Friday, December 11, 2009
Times and Transcript
Representatives from 14 Canadian universities will try to attract Chinese doctoral students to their schools during a recruitment mission in Beijing starting today, competing with institutions from eight other countries.
And while diversity on Canadian campuses is one reason behind the recruiting drive, putting more money into cash-strapped university coffers is another.
Read the full story
2010 will bring Afghan progress, U.S. general says
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Juliet ONeill, Canwest News Service
By the time American and Canadian combat forces are withdrawing in July 2011, “we will have reversed Taliban momentum,” Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, said Wednesday.
He predicted that this time next year there will be hard proof “the insurgency will be defeated” and he spoke of a role for coalition forces in protecting the lives and families of Taliban insurgents who want to “leave the fight” and reintegrate into Afghan life.
Read the full story
Canadian co-inventor of digital photography awarded Nobel Prize
Friday, December 11, 2009
Canwest News Service
Willard Boyle, the Canadian scientist, right, whose work virtually invented digital photography, received his Nobel Prize in Physics yesterday alongside this year's laureates in economics, literature, chemistry and medicine. Dr. Boyle, 85, split the $1.48-million prize with his research partner at the famed Bell Labs in New Jersey, George Smith, and a British scientist, Charles Kao, who developed high-efficiency fibre optic cables.
Read the full story
A charity starts fresh in Deppe
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Don Lajoie, The Windsor Star
It is a humble school in a humble setting.
Tucked in a goat pasture on the highway to the Dominican Republic, its foundation is a 15 x 25-foot cement slab floor. At each corner are gnarled wooden posts propping up the corrugated tin canopy.
Blackboards across the centre of the floor divide the school into two classrooms. The desks are made of wood, the seats upholstered with goat skin. This is Lakol Espwa, School of Hope.
Read the full story
Molecule may be flag for H1N1 danger
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News Service
Canadian scientists believe they have found a danger signal for potentially fatal H1N1 infections.
Working with Spanish scientists, researchers from the University Health Network in Toronto have detected high levels of a molecule in the blood of severe H1N1 patients that may trigger runaway inflammation in the airways, and potentially catastrophic lung damage.
Read the full story
U.S. high-speed rail draws local interest
Friday, December 11, 2009
Ray Spiteri, St. Catherines Standard
A New York state-based plan to create a high-speed rail system that could link up with Niagara, Hamilton and Toronto caught the attention of Niagara politicians this week.
“I was invited to come speak about … the potential for connections to our Canadian neighbours, and really improving inner-city passenger rail and highspeed passenger rail connecting Toronto, Montreal, New York City and the midwest, the entire eastern seaboard,” said Don Hannon, director of integrated modal services for the New York State Department of Transportation, outside the regional planning committee meeting Wednesday.
Read the full story
Duty-free shops considered for Canadian airports
Monday, December 14, 2009
François Shalom, Calgary Herald
By next spring, if airports have their way, travellers will be able to buy duty-free booze and other tax-exempt goodies when they land in Canada.
No more having to tramp for hours through Logan, Heathrow, Narita or other international airports, schlepping bags of heavy, fragile bottles before boarding.
Read the full story
Business and Trade
Canada to lead G7 in 2010 recovery, say forecasters
Monday, December 14, 2009
Paul Vieira, Financial Post
Aided by a recovering job market and low borrowing costs, Canada will lead its Group of Seven peers in economic growth next year, two of Bay Street's more bullish forecasters predicted Monday.
Royal Bank of Canada and Merrill Lynch Canada forecast interest-rate increases of at least one percentage point by this time next year as inflationary pressures emerge.
Read the full story
Oil, gas, gold prices climbing
Thursday, December 17, 2009
David Pett,, Financial Post
Canada's top benchmark exchange gained for the second time this week, as energy stocks soared on better-than-expected data for oil-and-gas stockpiles south of the border and miners benefited from another stellar day for gold.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 96.02 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 11,637.04, with gainers outpacing losers by a ratio of nearly three-to-one and nine of 10 sub-indexes closing in positive territory. The energy group advanced 1.35 per cent, materials added 1.3 per cent and financials were up 0.31 per cent.
Read the full story
Canadian bankruptcies plummet
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tavia Grant, Globe and Mail
Canadian bankruptcies registered their largest monthly drop on record in October, with declines among both consumers and businesses.
Bankruptcies tumbled 27.7 per cent in the month from September's levels, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada said Tuesday. Part of the reason may stem from changes to federal bankruptcy laws, which made it more costly to file for personal bankruptcy, and caused a rush of filings before the Sept. 18 amendments.
Read the full story
La balance commerciale se redresse
Vendredi 11 décembre 2009
Rudy Le Cours, La Presse
Lentement, mais sûrement, le commerce du Canada avec le reste du monde est en train de se rétablir, au point où il va sans doute contribuer à la croissance de l'économie cet automne pour la première fois depuis l'hiver dernier.
Le Canada est parvenu en octobre à renouer avec un surplus commercial, contre toute attente. Bien que modeste à hauteur de 428 millions de dollars, il s'agit d'une nette amélioration après le déficit de 849 millions en septembre et de 1,95 milliard en août, a indiqué hier Statistique Canada. Il s'agit du premier surplus mensuel depuis juin.
Lire en détail
Globalive's Wind Mobile keeps it simple
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Susan Krashinsky, The Globe and Mail
Canada's newest cellphone company opened its doors on Wednesday, promising to bring simplicity and competition into the country's wireless market.
Globalive Wireless Management Corp., which operates its wireless business under the brand name Wind Mobile, launched 18 sales locations at noon in the Greater Toronto Area, including 13 kiosks in Blockbuster rental stores and five of the brand's own stores. More locations will open for business in Calgary on Friday. It will begin hiring soon in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver with plans to open more there in the coming months.
Read the full story
Kobo e-reader to heat up Kindle competition
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Matt Hartley, Financial Post
As the struggle for supremacy in the burgeoning market for e-book readers intensifies, it's shaping up to be a battle between the Kindle and the rest of the world.
Although Amazon.com Inc. recently rolled out the Kindle to international markets beyond the United States—including Canada last month—the company's popular e-reading device is facing increased competition from new devices and the prospect of a possible format war.
Read the full story
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Jay Bryan, Montreal Gazette
This week's parade of good economic tidings continued yesterday with news that job growth should continue in the coming months and the sick man of Canada's economy, manufacturing, expanded twice as much as expected in October.
While every recovery has setbacks as well as gains, the preponderance of positive news is getting much stronger lately.
Read the full story
Canadian News
Moncton's Mounties come out on top
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Margaret Cappa, The Globe and Mail
In the search for Canada's most effective police force, look no further than the Mounties of Moncton, a new report suggests.
The Codiac Regional RCMP, based in Moncton, was found to have the highest adjusted crime clearance rates of major police forces in Canada, according to a Statistics Canada report released Monday. The list measured how effectively police forces in regions with populations of 100,000 or more “clear,” or resolve, serious crimes, typically by laying charges.
Read the full story
Nickelback named band of the decade
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Globe and Mail
Bad news Nickelback haters: the rock band so many love to hate has been named the group of the decade by Billboard magazine.
Billboard has released a list of the top music stars of the 2000s based on chart success, and Canada's Nickelback was the top group or duo, ranking No. 7 overall.
Read the full story
Job of a lifetime
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun
Long before his name was household, back home in Saskatoon, there always was something about the Olympic Games that fascinated Mike Babcock.
The way it enveloped his entire family. The way his late mother, Gail, who was never a sports fan, seemed captivated every minute of every Olympics on television. The way his father, Mike, would digest the track and field events of the Summer Games. And then the imprint of the disappointment of the Ben Johnson disqualification that was left on family and friends in 1988.
Read the full story
Canadians tops in social networking
Friday, December 11, 2009
Gillian Shaw, The Vancouver Sun
Canadians are the social networking ninjas of the world.
That’s the profile that comes out of a Forrester Research report released today that shows four out of five online Canadians use social media and almost 57 per cent participate in social networks at least once a month, making them the most active social networkers of any market regularly surveyed by Forrester.
Read the full story
From Degrassi punk to world-class rapper
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Nick Patch, Canadian Press
On his hit single Best I Ever Had, Canadian rapper Drake bragged that he had “buzz so big, I could probably sell a blank disc.”
And in a way, he has done just that.
The Toronto hip-hop star has made a dizzying ascent in the rap world—and he's done it without having released a proper album.
Read the full story
CBC, National Post team up for 2010 Games coverage
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
National Post
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Post today announced an agreement to collaborate in providing coverage of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
The cornerstone of the initiative will be a co-branded Olympic Winter Games website featuring non-stop coverage from a joint team of digital, print and broadcast journalists from CBC Sports and the National Post. The site will feature a jam-packed line-up of up to the minute stories, commentary, video, in-depth game statistics and, of course, medal counts from two of Canada’s major national media organizations.
Read the full story
Fighting crime with science
Friday, December 11, 2009
Rosie Gillingham, The Telegram
For years, stable isotope analysis has been used to test soil and water and to track migratory patterns.
Now, it's being used to fight crime in this province—a fairly new development in the field of forensic chemistry in Canada.
Stable isotope analysis has been used in archeology, ecology, environmental science, geochemistry and medical research, as well as by police forces across the United States in the last decade.
Read the full story
UBC plans to test potentially groundbreaking MS treatment
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Jane Armstrong, The Globe and Mail
The University of British Columbia has announced plans to begin patient trials to test a potentially groundbreaking method of diagnosing and treating multiple sclerosis, a disease that afflicts up to 75,000 Canadians.
Researchers have proposed launching a study involving 100 patients to test a theory that MS is a vascular disease that can be treated with surgery. It's the first research proposal in Canada to suggest evaluating the findings of an Italian doctor whose early studies indicate that multiple sclerosis might be caused by vein blockages that lead to a buildup of iron in the brain.
Read the full story
Opinion/Editorial
15 bougies pour RDI
Mercredi 16 décembre 2009
Hugo Dumas, La Presse
C'est Geneviève Asselin qui a lu le tout premier bulletin du Réseau de l'information (RDI) le 1er janvier 1995. Première nouvelle? Le conflit en Tchétchénie s'envenime. Écoutons le récit de la correspondante de Radio-Canada à Moscou, Céline Galipeau.
Depuis, le Saguenay a été inondé, le verglas a tout cassé, les tours du World Trade Center se sont écroulées et RDI a relayé toutes ces catastrophes et drames en direct.
Lire en détail
The political hurdles of climate change
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Jeffrey Simpson, The Globe and Mail
Wrote The Economist this week on climate change: “The national policies used to implement cuts need to be more efficient than the ones that are so far in place. That requires leadership from the politicians, and support from the voters. The world is, in the end, in their hands.”
Fine sentiments, worthy of an editorial writer who does not have to make decisions. In the real world, however, the difficulties within countries about reducing greenhouse-gas emissions are almost as hard as the ones between and among them.
Read the full story
Gold investors
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Cam Cole, Canwest News Service
They don't want money. They don't want publicity. They don't want any of the Canadian Olympians whose medal hopes their donations directly affect to endorse their companies or repay them in any way.
For their contributions to a fund that so far has spent about $3-million on resources for a select group of 25 Olympic athletes, the secretive Canadian business giants who are backing the mission—called B2ten—expect that the only return they will ever get on their investment will come in the form of quiet satisfaction.
Read the full story
