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Special Features
Canada leads international efforts to rebuild Haiti at Montreal Conference
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Prime Minister
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today rallied the international community to a strategic and coordinated effort to rebuild Haiti. The Prime Minister’s call came during an address to delegates of the Ministerial Preparatory Conference on Haiti.
“The generosity seen over the past two weeks is a testament to the kindness and compassion that unites humanity in the face of catastrophe,” said Prime Minister Harper. “Thanks to decisive international action, medical and humanitarian support is pouring into the country and saving lives.”
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Canada Announces $25 Million Toward Counter-Narcotics Efforts in Afghanistan
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs today announced that Canada will help combat the trade in narcotics in Afghanistan through a contribution of $25 million, bringing Canada’s total contribution to support counter-narcotics efforts to $55 million since 2007.
“This contribution will support counter-insurgency and state-building efforts, and will be used to build counter-narcotics capacity in specific areas related to law enforcement, precursor control, criminal justice, and other operational and regional efforts,” said Minister Cannon.
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International News
Cancel Haitian debt: Flaherty
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Stephen Thorne, The Globe and Mail
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty urged Haiti's international creditors Wednesday to cancel the country's debts following the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed 200,000 people, including 21 Canadians.
Canada cancelled all its Haitian debt last fall, Mr. Flaherty noted, and all Canadian contributions to the country's earthquake relief — more than $100-million — is in grants, not loans.
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MacKay says military can carry workload in Afghanistan, Haiti and Vancouver
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Canadian Press
Canada's military can carry its current workload in Afghanistan, Haiti and the upcoming Vancouver Olympics, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Monday.
MacKay, speaking after a funding announcement in Halifax, said there's no doubt the military is currently "firing on all cylinders" and is operating at a "very high tempo."
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Harper calling for global health care action
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
David Akin, Financial Post
Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in the Swiss Alps Wednesday on no less a mission than changing the world.
Over two days at the prestigious annual meeting of the World Economic Forum here, Mr. Harper will try to convince the 2,500 or so world leaders, chief executives, intellectuals and leaders of non-governmental organizations that the developed world must focus its attention on relieving suffering and improving the health of those in the developed world.
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Bill Clinton praises Canada's Haiti effort
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Campbell Clark, Globe and Mail
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the United Nations special co-ordinator for Haiti, singled out Canadians as the biggest donors to earthquake relief there.
After meeting Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr. Clinton predicted that if the relief efforts show progress, the world will stay committed.
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Colorado professor projects Canada will lead Olympic medal count
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Daily Gleaner
Canada will indeed own the podium at the Vancouver Olympics, according to a medals projection by a Colorado College economics professor.
Daniel Johnson, a Canadian who serves as the Gerald L. Schlessman Professor of Economics and director of the Innovative Minds Program at Colorado College, has been projecting Olympic medal numbers since 1999 when he did his first prediction for the 2000 Games. Since then, his figures have been 94 per cent accurate for actual medal counts and 87 per cent for gold medals.
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Terracotta Army to march into 4 Canadian cities
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
CBC News
Four museums across Canada are preparing for an invasion by China's famed terracotta warriors, with Victoria and Calgary slated as additional stops to the previously announced shows in Toronto and Montreal.
The Canadian tour of The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army, slated to run from 2010 through 2012, will exceed "the size and scope of all previous North American exhibitions" of the iconic Chinese artifacts, said Salvatore Badali, board of trustees chair for Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum.
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World leaders commit to 10 years of hard work for Haiti
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Gloria Galloway, The Globe and Mail
Nations calling themselves the Friends of Haiti have made a 10-year commitment to help the devastated island country recover from the earthquake and pull itself out of the depths of poverty.
Participants at a Montreal conference on Monday agreed in a joint statement that “an initial 10-year commitment is essential.” They also said that reconstruction must be directed by Haitians and that it must be co-ordinated, effective and transparent.
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La vérificatrice du Canada inquiète de la situation en Afghanistan
Vendredi 22 janvier 2010
La Presse Canadienne
La vérificatrice générale du Canada, Sheila Fraser, a terminé vendredi un voyage de cinq jours en Afghanistan, afin de mieux comprendre ce qui s'y passait, tant sur le plan militaire que du développement. Elle en est sortie à la fois impressionnée et inquiète.
Dans une entrevue donnée à l'aéroport de Kandahar, Mme Fraser a déclaré que la population du Canada ne saisissait pas l'ampleur de la mission canadienne là-bas, qui aura coûté environ 18 milliards $ lors du retrait des troupes l'an prochain.
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Business and Trade
Bond King buys Canada
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Paul Vieira, Financial Post
Count one of the world's biggest and most influential mutual-fund managers as the latest market-mover to jump on Canada's bandwagon.
Bill Gross, founder and managing director of Pacific Investment Management Co., which manages US$1-trillion on behalf of clients, said in his monthly letter to clients that Canada stands out among industrialized countries as a destination for investors to park their fixed-income cash.
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Canada not about to impose new taxes on banks: Flaherty
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Financial Post
The Canadian government is not about to impose new taxes on financial institutions or set limits on executive compensation, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday.
Ottawa says such measures are not necessary because Canada has not suffered the same kind of turmoil as other nations.
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U.S. firm to swallow former Quebecor World
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Canadian Press
World Color Press Inc., the Montreal-based printing giant formerly known as Quebecor World, has agreed to be taken over by Quad/Graphics Inc. in order to create a combined company with 30,000 employees.
Quad/Graphics Inc. is the largest privately held printer in the United States, but plans to go public in connection with the World Color takeover.
World Color Press is the publicly traded company that was formed after the former Quebecor printing business was restructured under court protection from its creditors.
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Quebec says it's ahead of the curve
Friday, January 22, 2010
Rhéal Séguin, The Globe and Mail
Quebec is emerging from the recession in far better shape than most economies, says Premier Jean Charest, adding that he can avoid slashing government programs and elude major tax increases yet still achieve a balanced budget in four years.
Mr. Charest anticipates the province will generate enough additional revenues from hydro-electricity exports and use renewable resources to attract industries as part of the “new economy” that massive cuts in government program can be avoided.
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'Quite a bit of interest' in ConocoPhillips stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Canadian Press
A ConocoPhillips vice-president says there has been "quite a bit of interest" in the company's stake in the world's largest oilsands project.
The Houston-based energy major owns nine per cent of the Syncrude Canada Ltd. project north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
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GM to sell Saab to Dutch carmaker
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
CBC News
General Motors has agreed to sell its Saab brand to Dutch luxury sports car manufacturer Spyker Cars.
Spyker will pay GM $74 million US in cash and $326 million in preferred shares in the new company.
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Fitness franchise takes the gym outside
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Lisa Fiset, The Globe and Mail
After a six-hour drive home to Montreal from a fitness conference in Toronto, Danielle Danault had no interest in working out in a stuffy gym. So she went to the park.
The company she founded on the heels of that inspirational moment now boasts 20,000 members who get fit in 76 locations.
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Canadian News
À qui l'honneur?
Mardi 26 janvier 2010
CBC Sports
Le Comité olympique canadien (COC) annoncera, vendredi, à Richmond, l'identité du porte-drapeau à la cérémonie d'ouverture des Jeux de Vancouver.
La patineuse de vitesse de longue piste Clara Hughes pourrait recevoir cet honneur. La hockeyeuse Hayley Wickenheiser, le bobeur Pierre Lueders, le fondeur Brian McKeever et le patineur de vitesse longue piste Jeremy Wotherspoon figurent aussi parmi les successeurs potentiels de la hockeyeuse québécoise Danielle Goyette.
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Ontario Provincial Police joins social media movement with Twitter account
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Canadian Press
The Ontario Provincial Police force is the latest police agency to join the social media movement by opening a Twitter account.
Police forces in several Canadian cities, including Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, along with the RCMP, have Twitter accounts. The Ontario force says its account (at www.twitter.com/OPP-News) will include news releases and other messages.
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Ontario's organ transplants grew in 2009
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
CBC News
Ontario's organ transplants reached a record number in 2009, according to the Trillium Gift of Life Network.
The health network announced Tuesday that almost 700 lives were saved last year because of 218 organ donations, an increase of 17 per cent from 2008.
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The changing face of Stephen Harper
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Kevin Libin, National Post
Who's that Prime Minister in Ottawa preparing to appoint a string of partisan senators tomorrow, and dreaming of converting the G8 from an economic focus to one of promoting health care for mothers and children in the developing world — and what's he done with Stephen Harper? The man who first came to Ottawa as a Reform MP in 1993 with an agenda to privatize social services, restrict immigration and end Upper Chamber patronage would likely not recognize the Conservative leader of today, and not just because of the greyer hair.
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Canadians are flying their freak flag at Sundance
Monday, January 25, 2010
Peter Howell, The Toronto Star
Canadians are freaking out the Sundance Film Festival.
The Canuck reputation for mildness has been shattered and splattered all over the snowy mountains here in visceral movies that pursue the shocks and profits of the horror, sci-fi and thriller genres.
“I think I speak for everyone: my pulse is like 170,” a man in the Library Center Theatre audience told actor Ryan Reynolds early Sunday morning, at a Q&A session following the midnight premiere of Buried, a hostage thriller directed by Rodrigo Cortés.
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An Amish food tour of the Kawarthas
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Jennifer Bain, The Toronto Star
Leroy and Fanny Mae Zehr's farmhouse smells exactly as you'd expect an Amish home to smell — of wood-burning stoves and freshly baked bread.
The couple has lived with their five children on the 100-acre farm northwest of Lindsay for seven years, growing hay, corn and forage peas, raising sheep, chickens, turkeys and colts, and creating baked goods and preserves for Zehr's Farm Fresh Produce & Bakery up the road.
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B.C. has its 'holy smoke' moment as flame heads home
Friday, January 22, 2010
Dawn Walton, The Globe and Mail
As the sun dipped behind the Rocky Mountains, a pair of celebrated Canadian warhorses ushered the Olympic flame into British Columbia yesterday, marking the final push in a cross-country odyssey destined for Vancouver and the start of the 2010 Winter Games.
Peter Lougheed, the 81-year-old former Edmonton Eskimos football player who became one of Alberta's most beloved premiers, ignored his bum knees as he trotted, torch aloft, toward Wally Buono, the 59-year-old general manager and coach of the B.C. Lions, who overcame triple-bypass heart surgery and would carry the flame into B.C.
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Opinion/Editorial
G8 agenda: Focus on human welfare
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Stephen Harper, The Toronto Star
This week, many global leaders and members of the international business community will meet at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. There, Canada will set out its plans as president of the G8 and host of the G20 Toronto summit in June. We remain committed to working with our partners to keep our commitments — including fully implementing government stimulus measures and opposing trade protectionism.
The G20 has emerged as the world's premier forum for fiscal and economic cooperation. Its members include developed and developing nations alike.
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Building up from the basics
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Globe and Mail
With the rescue phase in Haiti over, donor nations came to Montreal to talk about two things: the country's immediate needs and its longer-term reconstruction. The link between the two is the government of Haiti. Canada can play a central role in helping Haitians to build a strong government and keep it accountable to them, so that aid for Haiti does not result in ever greater dependence.
Take three of the basic needs: nutrition, health care and shelter. Each is being provided by the international community. But ultimately Haitians need to run each domain themselves.
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